Officials: Taliban blocked unaccompanied women from flights

Afghanistans Taliban rulers refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights including some overseas because they were travelling without a male guardian two Afghan airline officials said SaturdayThe officials who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from the Taliban said dozens of women who arrived at Kabuls international airport Friday to board domestic and international flights were told they couldnt do so without a male guardianSome of the women were dual nationals returning to their homes overseas including some from Canada according to one of the officials Women were denied boarding on flights to Islamabad Dubai and Turkey on Kam Air and the stateowned Ariana Airline said the officialsThe order came from the Taliban leadership said one officialBy Saturday some women travelling alone were given permission to board an Ariana Airlines flight to western Herat province the official said However by the time the permission was granted they had missed their flight he saidThe airports president and police chief both from the Taliban movement and both Islamic clerics were meeting Saturday with airline officialsThey are trying to solve it the official saidIt was still unclear whether the Taliban would exempt air travel from an order issued months ago requiring women traveling more than 45 miles 72 kilometers to be accompanied by a male relativeThis latest assault on womens rights in Talibanrun Afghanistan comes just days after the allmale religiously driven government broke its promise to allow girls to return to school after the sixth gradeThe move enraged the international community which has been reluctant to recognize the Talibanrun government since the Taliban swept into power last August fearing they would revert to their harsh rule of the 1990sThe Talibans refusal to open up education to all Afghan children also infuriated large swaths of the Afghan populationOn Saturday dozens of girls demonstrated in the Afghan capital demanding the right to go to schoolAfter the Talibans ban on girls education beyond the sixth grade womens rights activist Mahbouba Seraj went on Afghanistans TOLO TV to ask How do we as a nation trust you with your words anymore What should we do to please you Should we all dieAn Afghan charity called PenPath which runs dozens of secret schools with thousands of volunteers is planning to stage countrywide protests to demand the Taliban reverse its order said Matiullah Wesa PenPath founderOn Saturday at the Doha Forum 2022 in Qatar Roya Mahboob an Afghan businesswoman who founded an allgirl robotics team in Afghanistan was given the Forum Award for her work and commitment to girls educationIn an interview after receiving the award Mahboob called on the many global leaders and policy makers attending the forum to press the Taliban to open schools for all Afghan childrenThe robotics team fled Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power but Mahboob said she still hoped a science and technology center she had hoped to build in Afghanistan for girls could still be constructedI hope that the international community the Muslim communities have not forgotten about Afghanistan and will not abandon us she said Afghanistan is a poor country It doesnt have enough resources And if you take away our knowledge I dont know whats going to happenThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever