Taliban checks Women's movement, disolves Afghan EC

In Afghanistan, the Taliban led government dissolved two election commissions as well as the state ministries for peace and parliamentarian affairs. Bilal Karimi, deputy spokesman for Taliban government, said the country’s Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaint Commission have been dissolved. Both election commissions were mandated to administer and supervise all types of elections in the country, including presidential, parliamentary and provincial council elections. Karimi said the Taliban also dissolved the Ministry for Peace and the Ministry of Parliamentarian Affairs. He said they were unnecessary ministries in the government’s current structure.

Taliban authorities said that women seeking to travel long distances should not be offered road transport unless they are accompanied by a close male relative. The move follows the Taliban barring many women in public-sector roles from returning to work in the wake of their August 15 seizure of power, and as girls remain largely cut off from state secondary schooling. "Women travelling for more than 45 miles (72 kilometres) should not be offered a ride if they are not accompanied by a close family member," ministry spokesman Sadeq Akif Muhajir told AFP on Sunday, specifying that the escort must be a close male relative. The new guidance, circulated on social media networks, also asked people to stop playing music in their vehicles. Muhajir said that the hijab, an Islamic headscarf, would likewise be required for women seeking transport.