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Women TV presenters defy Taliban order to cover faces on air
Since surging back to power last year the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on civil society, many focused on reining in the rights of women and girls.
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In this photo taken on February 18, 2019, Afghan presenter Diba Akbari, 21, takes part in a live news broadcast for Zan TV (Women's TV) in Kabul. Afghanistan's population -- estimated at 35 million -- is overwhelmingly young, with 63.7 percent under the age of 25. Millions have grown up in cities, swollen by refugees during the years of fighting. (AFP/Wakil Kohsar)
W
omen presenters on Afghanistan's leading TV channels went on air Saturday without covering their faces, defying a Taliban order that they conceal their appearance to comply with the group's austere brand of Islam.
Since surging back to power last year the Taliban have imposed a slew of restrictions on civil society, many focused on reining in the rights of women and girls.
Earlier this month Afghanistan's supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a diktat for women to cover up fully in public, including their faces, ideally with the traditional burqa.
The feared Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ordered women TV presenters to follow suit by Saturday.
Previously they had only been required to wear a headscarf.
But broadcasters TOLOnews, Shamshad TV and 1TV all aired live programmes Saturday with women presenters' faces visible.
"Our female colleagues are concerned that if they cover their faces, the next thing they will be told is to stop working," said Shamshad TV head of news Abid Ehsas.
