KABUL: Afghan women were stopped from entering amusement parks in Kabul on Wednesday after the Taliban’s morality ministry said there would be restrictions on women being able to access public parks.
A spokesperson for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV) confirmed that women would be restricted from accessing parks when asked for comment by Reuters, but did not respond to requests to provide further details.
It was not clear how widely the restrictions applied or how they affected a previous rule from the MPVPV saying parks, including open-air spaces, must be segregated by gender and certain days would be aside for women.
Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesperson for the Taliban administration, did not respond to a request for comment.
At a Kabul amusement park containing rides such as bumper cars and a Ferris wheel, Reuters witnesses observed several women being turned away by park officials, with Taliban agents present observing the situation.
Masooma, a Kabul resident who asked that only her first name be published for security reasons, had planned to take her grandchild to visit the park but was turned away.
“When a mother comes with their children, they must be allowed to enter the park, because these children haven’t seen anything good ... they must play and be entertained,” she told Reuters. “I urged a lot to them, but they didn’t allow us to get inside the park, and now we are returning home.”
Two park operators, who asked to remain anonymous to speak on a sensitive matter, said they had been told by Taliban officials not to allow women to enter their parks.
Since taking over Afghanistan last year, Taliban have said women should not leave the home without a male relative and must cover their faces, though some women in urban centers ignore the rule and some women have been permitted to work in government offices. The group also made a U-turn on signals it would open all girls’ high schools in March.
Western governments have said the group needs to reverse its course on women’s rights for any path toward formal recognition of the Taliban government.
The Taliban say they respect women’s rights in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic law.
![]()
Women stopped from entering amusement parks in Afghan capital
Short Url
https://arab.news/y86qx
Women stopped from entering amusement parks in Afghan capital
- It was not clear how widely the restrictions applied
- Bilal Karimi, a deputy spokesperson for the Taliban administration, did not respond to a request for comment
Mexico and El Salvador make big cocaine seizures at sea as US continues lethal strikes
MEXICO CITY: The navies of El Salvador and Mexico announced drug seizures in the Pacific Ocean this week of more than 10 tons of cocaine, in contrast to deadly strikes by the US government that just this week left 11 people dead on three boats suspected of carrying drugs in Latin American waters.
The latest announcement came Thursday, when Mexico said it had seized nearly four tons of suspected drugs and detained three people from a semisubmersible craft, 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) south of the port of Manzanillo.
Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said via X that the seizure from the sleek, low-riding boat with three visible motors brought the weekly total to nearly 10 tons, but he did not provide detail on the other seizures.
Mexican authorities said the seizure was made with intelligence shared US Northern Command and the US Joint Interagency Task Force South.
On Sunday, El Salvador’s navy announced the largest drug seizure in the country’s history of 6.6 tons of cocaine. The navy had intercepted a 180-foot boat registered to Tanzania, 380 miles (611 kilometers) southwest of the coast. Navy divers found 330 packages of cocaine hidden in the boat’s ballast tanks. Ten men were arrested from Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador.
On Thursday, Salvadoran authorities gave access to the seized ship FMS Eagle, which had just arrived in the port of La Union. More than 200 wrapped bundles were lined up on the deck.
The Trump administration has pressured Mexico to make more drug seizures over the past year. The trafficking of drugs like fentanyl was the president’s justification for tariffs on Mexican imports.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has responded with a more aggressive stance toward drug cartels than her predecessor, that has included sending dozens of drug trafficking prisoners to the United States for prosecution.
Sheinbaum has also expressed her disagreement with strikes by the US military in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean against boats suspected of carrying drugs.
At least 145 people have been killed in those strikes since the US government began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” last September.
The US strikes this week included two vessels carrying four people each in the eastern Pacific Ocean and another boat in the Caribbean carrying three people. The administration provided images of the boats being destroyed, but not evidence they were carrying drugs.
The latest announcement came Thursday, when Mexico said it had seized nearly four tons of suspected drugs and detained three people from a semisubmersible craft, 250 nautical miles (463 kilometers) south of the port of Manzanillo.
Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said via X that the seizure from the sleek, low-riding boat with three visible motors brought the weekly total to nearly 10 tons, but he did not provide detail on the other seizures.
Mexican authorities said the seizure was made with intelligence shared US Northern Command and the US Joint Interagency Task Force South.
On Sunday, El Salvador’s navy announced the largest drug seizure in the country’s history of 6.6 tons of cocaine. The navy had intercepted a 180-foot boat registered to Tanzania, 380 miles (611 kilometers) southwest of the coast. Navy divers found 330 packages of cocaine hidden in the boat’s ballast tanks. Ten men were arrested from Colombia, Nicaragua, Panama and Ecuador.
On Thursday, Salvadoran authorities gave access to the seized ship FMS Eagle, which had just arrived in the port of La Union. More than 200 wrapped bundles were lined up on the deck.
The Trump administration has pressured Mexico to make more drug seizures over the past year. The trafficking of drugs like fentanyl was the president’s justification for tariffs on Mexican imports.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has responded with a more aggressive stance toward drug cartels than her predecessor, that has included sending dozens of drug trafficking prisoners to the United States for prosecution.
Sheinbaum has also expressed her disagreement with strikes by the US military in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean against boats suspected of carrying drugs.
At least 145 people have been killed in those strikes since the US government began targeting those it calls “narcoterrorists” last September.
The US strikes this week included two vessels carrying four people each in the eastern Pacific Ocean and another boat in the Caribbean carrying three people. The administration provided images of the boats being destroyed, but not evidence they were carrying drugs.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.