UN concerned over Taliban arrests of Afghan women and girls for alleged Islamic headscarf violations

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The United Nations mission in Afghanistan says it’s deeply concerned by recent arbitrary arrests and detentions by the Taliban government of women and girls for allegedly violating dress codes regarding the Islamic headscarf, or hijab. The mission said it was looking into claims of ill treatment of women and extortion in exchange for their release. The Taliban said last week that female police officers have been taking women into custody for wearing “bad hijab.” It was the first official confirmation of a crackdown on women who don’t follow the dress code imposed by the Taliban since they returned to power in 2021.