Following our earlier blog about the Taliban in Afghanistan going global, here a photograph of students in Kabul wearing Middle Eastern hijab; a long way from the traditional all-enveloping Afghani and Pakistani one-piece chadari or burqa enforced by the Taliban when they were in power between 1996 and 2001.

Have a good look at the photograph: all of the women wear the Saudi-style abaya and niqab, rather than the burqa with its mesh-like mask in front of the eyes, which became iconic for Taliban controlled Afghanistan in the 1990s.

As discussed earlier, in this instance the three-piece 'black burqa' takes precedence over the traditional one-piece 'blue burqa'. It may be no coincidence that the mother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting Taliban Minister for the Interior, originates from the Persian Gulf.

The photograph was taken last Saturday,

Gillian and Willem Vogelsang

Afghan female students in Kabul, Saturday 11 September 2021, with Takiban flags. The women are wearing Saudi-style abaya and niqab, as propagated by the new Taliban rulers (QURESHI AFP).