The Taliban government in Afghanistan has begun implementing a decision requiring all television news anchors in the country to wear the niqab while appearing and presenting programs on screens. After the decision was announced on Thursday, only a handful of news stations complied with the order. However, female Afghan channel announcers appeared today in a niqab during a broadcast after the Taliban’s ministry for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice began to implement the decision.

The Ministry of Information and Culture had previously announced that the decision was “final and non-negotiable”. On this occasion, Sonia Niazi, host of the Tolot news channel, said: “It’s just an external culture imposed on us that forces us to wear the niqab and can create problems for us when presenting our programs.”

A local media spokesman noted that his TV channel received the decision last week but was forced to comply with the order on Sunday, indicating that the issue was non-negotiable. He spoke on condition of anonymity and his post, fearing reprisals from the Taliban authorities. During the last Taliban rule in Afghanistan (1996-2001), the movement imposed severe restrictions on women, requiring them to wear the full veil and forbidding them from participating in public life and receiving education.