Some exceptions were made in Afghanistan's capital including for toilet attendants for women. Women march to demand their rights under Taliban rule during a demonstration near the former Women's Affairs Ministry building in Kabul, Afghanistan (AP)
The decision to prevent most female city workers from returning to their jobs is another sign that the Taliban, who overran Kabul last month, are enforcing their harsh interpretation of Islam despite initial promises by some that they would be tolerant and inclusive.
Comment: The interim government has been in power for but a brief perid, and, whilst the country has been declared as much safer than it was before, clearly more time needs to be given before one can consider their promises broken.
In their previous rule in the 1990s, the Taliban had barred girls and women from schools, jobs and public life.
Comment: And when the US ruled Afghanistan it resulted in the deaths of nearly half a million civilians.
In recent days, the new Taliban government issued several decrees rolling back the rights of girls and women.
© Bernat Armangue/APTaliban fighters patrol a market in Kabul's Old City, Afghanistan
Female university students were informed that studies would take place in gender-segregated settings from now on, and that they must abide by a strict Islamic dress code.
Comment: The West doesn't care when Saudi Arabia segregates classes by gender, or Orthodox Jews sometimes segregate by gender; bear in mind that even schools in the UK used to segregate by gender, some still do.
Under the US-backed government deposed by the Taliban, university studies had been co-ed, for the most part.
Comment: 'For the most part'.
On Friday, the Taliban shut down the Women's Affairs Ministry, replacing it with a ministry for the "propagation of virtue and the prevention of vice" and tasked with enforcing Islamic law.
On Sunday, just over a dozen women staged a protest outside the ministry, holding up signs calling for the participation of women in public life.
"A society in which women are not active is (sic) dead society," one sign read.
"Why are they (the Taliban) taking our rights?" said one of the protesters, 30-year-old Basira Tawana.
"We are here for our rights and the rights of our daughters."
The protest lasted for about 10 minutes.
After a short verbal confrontation with a man, the women got into cars and left, as Taliban in two cars observed from nearby.
Over the past months, Taliban fighters had broken up several women's protests by force.
Comment: Harsher than how the police in Australia are treating female lockdown protesters?
Elsewhere in the city, interim Kabul mayor Hamdullah Namony gave his first news conference since being appointed by the Taliban.
He said that before the Taliban takeover last month, just under one-third of close to 3,000 city employees were women, and that they had worked in all departments.
Mr Namony said on Sunday the female employees have been ordered to stay home, pending a further decision.
He said exceptions were made for women who could not be replaced by men, including some in the design and engineering departments and the attendants of public toilets for women.
Mr Namony did not say how many female employees were forced to stay home.
"There are some areas that men can't do it, we have to ask our female staff to fulfil their duties, there is no alternative for it," he said.
Mr Namony also said the new government has begun removing security barriers in Kabul, a city that has endured frequent bombing and shooting attacks over the years.
Such barriers, erected near ministries, embassies and private homes of politicians and warlords, had been commonplace in Kabul for years.
The mayor said private citizens would be charged for the work of taking down the barriers.
While he said most barriers had been removed, reporters touring the city noted that barriers outside most government installations and embassies had been left in place.
The Taliban have tried to present themselves as guarantors of security, in hopes that this will win them support from a public still widely suspicious of their intentions.
Comment: Actually, numerous analysts report that the Taliban were able to retake Afghanistan in record time with little resistance because they were actually welcomed by a significant proportion of people.
Under the previous government, a rise in crime had been a major concern for ordinary Afghans.
Perhaps the toughest challenge faced by the new Taliban rulers is the accelerated economic downturn.
Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan was plagued by major problems, including large-scale poverty, drought and heavy reliance on foreign aid for the state budget.
In a sign of growing desperation, street markets have sprung up in Kabul where residents are selling their belongings.
Some of the sellers are Afghans hoping to leave the country, while others are forced to offer their meagre belongings in hopes of getting money for the next meal.
"Our people need help, they need jobs, they need immediate help, they are not selling their household belongings for choice here," said Kabul resident Zahid Ismail Khan, who was watching the activity in one of the impromptu markets.
"For a short-term people might try to find a way to live, but they would have no other choice to turn to begging in a longer term," he said.
Comment: The original title of this article was Female employees for Kabul city government told to stay at home, but clearly there's more to the story, and this is yet another Western outlet oblivious to the real struggles that Afghanistan is currently facing.
That said, Afghanistan has agreed to numerous desperately needed deals with China and Russia and should it fail to abide by its commitments, it's unlikely they will go ahead and the Taliban will have to answer to its people for depriving them of those opportunities. However, clearly more time is needed before any judgement can be made:
- Pepe Escobar: How Russia-China are stage-managing the Taliban
- As America's attempt to Westernise Afghanistan by force fails, Kabul may now find its place in Russian & Chinese-dominated Eurasia
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