Foreign media have reported that the Taliban government has announced a new ban on books written by women who teach at universities in Afghanistan.
680 books have been banned on the theme of “anti-Sharia and Taliban policies”, including about 140 books on topics such as “safety in the chemical laboratory”.
The order is reported to be the latest in a series of restrictions that the Taliban have brought in since coming to power four years ago.
Also this week, the Taliban’s supreme leader ordered a ban on “fiber optic internet” in about 10 provinces.
These Taliban rules particularly oppress women and girls, who are only allowed to access education up to the sixth grade.
In addition, 18 university subjects have been banned, again targeting women.
Six of the 18 banned subjects are specifically about women, including gender and development, the role of women in communication, and women’s sociology, as well as the teaching of human rights and sexual violence.
Ziur Rahman Aryubi, deputy director of studies at the Taliban government’s Ministry of Higher Education, wrote to universities that the decisions had been made by a panel of “religious scholars and experts.”