A former CIA officer has posted photos of Taliban officials’ wives from diplomatic passports, launching a campaign to protest the group’s restrictions on women’s photographs in Afghanistan.
Sarah Adams, who served with the US intelligence agency, said the campaign called “Taliban Housewives” was a response to the Taliban’s new ruling on women’s images in national identity documents. She argued that if Afghan women are denied photos in official records, Taliban wives should not have theirs in passports or marriage certificates.
Earlier this week, reports suggested Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had issued an oral decree banning photos of women in identity and official documents.
Adams published images of wives of Taliban diplomats posted in Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Quetta, Pakistan. She criticised governments for allowing the Taliban to run official missions abroad while Afghan women remain confined at home.
“These women are not innocent bystanders,” she wrote, stressing they travel freely with their husbands while Afghan women are stripped of basic rights. Adams said she would continue releasing photos until the Taliban reversed its restrictions.
On Thursday, the Taliban’s Dar al-Ifta, its religious authority, ruled that including women’s photos in identity cards would be optional. It said photos were mandatory only for Afghan women living abroad, while for those inside Afghanistan the practice was “contrary to Sharia.”
The Taliban-run National Statistics and Information Authority had earlier insisted photos were essential for verifying identity, preventing fraud and meeting international standards. Its proposal to make photos compulsory was reportedly rejected by the Taliban’s leadership.
