KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- The Taliban religious army Wednesday ordered bus drivers to hide female passengers behind curtains -- the latest edict in the group's campaign to impose its strict interpretation of Islamic law on this central Asian country.
In a broadcast on Taliban-run Radio Shariat, the group ordered buses carrying only women to be shrouded in curtains. It also said a curtain should hide the driver from the female passengers.Men and women must travel in separate buses in Kabul, with about half of the estimated 200 buses in the capital reserved for each sex. Women are barred from driving.
But drivers have been lax in following the Taliban's rules. For example, the broadcast said some drivers have been playing music, an offense that is punishable by a public beating. Other drivers have had long hair and or wore "shiny clothes."