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The Taliban has banned female members of staff from entering the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kabul.
The Islamists, who seized control of Afghanistan last month last amid the chaos following the withdrawal of US troops, locked women out of the building today and replaced the department with the 'morality police'.
Workers in the Afghan capital covered the women's ministry signs with a replacement in a mixture of Dari and Arabic, reading 'Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice'.
Female employees said they had been trying to come to work for several weeks only to be told to return to their homes, according to videos filmed outside the building seen by Reuters.
The gates of the building were finally locked on Thursday, one of the women said. A senior Taliban leader said earlier this week that women would not be allowed to work in government ministries with men.
The Taliban has banned female members of staff from entering the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Kabul and replaced the department with the 'morality police' (pictured, women protest for their rights in front of the presidential palace in Kabul)
Works in the Afghan capital covered the women's ministry signs for a replacement in a mixture of Dari and Arabic, reading 'Ministries of Prayer and Guidance and the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice'
'I am the only breadwinner in my family,' said a second woman, who also said she worked in the department. 'When there is no ministry, what should an Afghan woman do?'
Taliban spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Women gathered outside the presidential palace