Taliban ban Afghan women flying alone

The Taliban have ordered airlines in Afghanistan to stop women from flying unless accompanied by a male relative, in the latest crackdown on basic human rights by the country's new rulers since seizing power.

The hardline Islamists have imposed sweeping restrictions on freedoms, mostly targeting women, and on Sunday also ordered local television channels to stop broadcasting BBC news bulletins.

Over the weekend, they also decreed that men and women could not visit parks in the capital on the same days. A spokesman for the Taliban's religious enforcers denied ordering the flight ban, but two travel agents told AFP they had stopped issuing tickets to solo women travellers.