Taliban authorities in Afghanistan clarified on Saturday that “a woman can talk to another woman”, denying recent reports of such a ban by the Ministry for Prevention of Corruption and Propagation of Virtue.

“A woman can talk to another woman, women need to interact with each other in society, women have needs,” Saiful Islam Khyber, a ministry spokesman, told AFP.

Recently, articles in the exiled Afghan press and international media reported that the minister in charge, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, has banned the women from speaking to each other based on the information on certain recordings.

It’s “stupid” and “absurd,” replied Hiber. Those passages were about “exceptions,” he added, confirming that the minister then referred to the specific case of women praying, urging them not to speak loudly at the time.

The UN accuses the Taliban of imposing gender apartheid after returning to power in 2021, gradually expelling women from public spaces.

Currently, Afghan women are no longer able to study beyond Primary school, go to parks, gyms, care facilities and hardly leave their homes without an escort.

A recent law forbids them from singing or reciting poetry, under, like other guidelines, an extremely strict application of Islamic law.

Some local radio and television stations also stopped broadcasting women’s voices.

The Taliban government assures, however, that Islamic law “guarantees” the rights of both men and women in the country.