The Taliban reportedly ordered beauty salons across Afghanistan on Tuesday to close within a month.

Mohammad Siddiq Akif Mahajar, a spokesman for the government’s Ministry of Virtue Prevention and Promoting Virtue, said he confirmed the veracity of the letter announcing the ban. Associated Press (AP Communications). The regime’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akunzada, reportedly dictated the contents of the letter, but no reason was given for the ban.

“UNAMA urges the de facto authorities to stop promulgating beauty salon closures. This new restriction on women’s rights will hurt the economy and contradict the expressed support for women’s entrepreneurship. UNAMA continues to work with parties calling for the ban to be lifted,” tweeted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

UNAMA is calling on the de facto authorities to stop announcing the closure of beauty salons. This new restriction on women’s rights has a negative impact on the economy and contradicts the stated support for women’s entrepreneurship. UNAMA continues to work with parties seeking to lift the ban.

— UNAMA News (@UNAMAnews) July 4, 2023

“The (Taliban) are imposing restrictions on women day by day,” a salon owner, who declined to be named, told the Associated Press.

“Why are they only targeting women? Are we not human? Do we not have the right to work or live?”

The woman said she was the sole breadwinner of the family after her husband died in a car bombing in 2017, according to the Associated Press.

Hair salons were last banned during the Taliban rule before the 2001 US-led invasion, but were reopened under the US-led occupation of Afghanistan, the BBC said. It remained open after the withdrawal of US troops and the return of the Taliban in 2021, but the windows were often covered and spray-painted with a woman outside the saloon to hide her face.

The ban, the newspaper said, is in addition to many other restrictions on Afghan women, including classroom bans, public recreation, employment at the United Nations (UN), unescorted travel and compliance with a strict dress code. It is said that it was carried out following British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). (Related: Immigration from US, Afghanistan and China surges by 1,000%)

The government reportedly said it respects women’s rights according to its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs. NBC News.