The Taliban's morality police have detained multiple women in Herat, Afghanistan, for allegedly violating strict dress requirements, according to eyewitnesses.
Residents said officials from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice stopped vehicles and checked clothing on Saturday, detaining women who were not wearing a chador or burqa.
The UN mission in Afghanistan said Sunday it was "concerned over multiple arrests and detentions of women in Herat for alleged non-compliance with dress requirements."
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has steadily tightened restrictions, requiring women to be completely covered in public.
One witness described seeing two PVPV employees with a whip put two fully covered women into a vehicle. Another said the majority of those arrested were not wearing chadors.
The PVPV ministry did not comment on the specific detentions but stated that the dress code is "a divine command and an enforced law."
Since the crackdown began, residents report a sharp drop in women visible on the streets. A taxi driver said he was told not to transport women without a chador.
One 33-year-old woman called the situation "unbearable," saying, "I am genuinely saddened that we don't even have the right to breathe freely."