GROUNDED

Taliban Says Women Can No Longer Fly Without Male Chaperone

The ban is another blow to women in the beleaguered nation after girls were banned from attending high school last week.

Airlines in Afghanistan have been ordered not to allow women to fly alone, marking the second recent setback for females in the war-torn nation. Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice is said to have sent the directive on Saturday, according to Reuters. After girls were abruptly banned from attending high school last week, reversing an earlier promise that they would be allowed to do so, the U.S. canceled a planned meeting on economic issues. It is unclear what, if any, retaliation will be handed down after the flight ban. The moves undermine the assurances of the Taliban—which is not yet recognized by the international community—that it has changed since their harsh rule that ended in 2001.