Taliban mayor of Kabul asks women employees to stay at home

Kabul: The new Taliban mayor of Kabul, Hamdullah Nomani, has asked female city employees to stay at home in case their job can be filled by a man.

Nomani said that the Taliban "finds it necessary to stop women from working for a while", and urged women to work in places where men cannot go due to gender segregation, Ria Novosti reported.

According to the Taliban mayor, 27% of the workforce in the city comprises women, including in the district administration, in the construction and engineering spheres.

"We have allowed those women who cannot be replaced by men at work, or whose work is not men's, to return to work. They go to work every day. For example, we are talking about women who work in women's city toilets - where men are not allowed," said the mayor.

The video was posted on Twitter by the AL Arabiya TV channel.

In addition, according to him, in the district and in the central office there are women employees who cannot be replaced by men: they work in the field of electricity and construction.

"But regarding the positions that others (men) can occupy, we told them (women) to stay at home until the situation normalizes. Their salary will be paid," the mayor added.

The latest step comes days after the Taliban banned female staff members from entering the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kabul.

The Islamists, who seized control of Afghanistan on August 15, locked women out of the building last Thursday and replaced the department with a ministry for morality.

The women's ministry signboard was replaced with the 'Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice'. (UNI)