Taliban Advances Toward Opposition's Main Headquarters

Afghanistan's fundmentalist Taliban regime, which has exacted its own harsh version of Islamic law on Afghan men and women, continues to gain more power and territory. The Taliban, which already controls the large majority of Afghanistan, is now closing in on the Northern Opposition's main headquarters in Sherberghan.

The Taliban, opposed only by opposition forces in the North, has issued decrees that have imprisoned women in their homes, deprived them of their right to adequate medical care and education, forced them to remain indoors unless escorted by a close male relative, and banned them from working to support their families. Women are also forced to wear a burqa, a debilitating head-to-toe garment, whenever they leave their homes. Many women have been trampled in the streets because they were unable to see oncoming vehicles through the burqas.

Media Resources: The Washington Post - August 3, 1998

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