A fresh controversy has erupted after a former CIA officer revealed photographs of Taliban diplomats’ wives on their passports, exposing the regime’s hypocrisy as ordinary Afghan women are banned from having their own photos on official documents.
Sarah Adams, who once worked with the US intelligence agency, launched the campaign “Taliban Housewives” in protest against the Taliban’s new decree restricting women’s photographs in national identity cards. She argued that if Afghan women are denied this fundamental right, then the wives of Taliban leaders should not enjoy the privilege of having their images on passports or marriage certificates.
Adams published images of wives of Taliban diplomats posted in Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Quetta, Pakistan. She condemned foreign governments for allowing Taliban representatives to operate diplomatic missions abroad while women inside Afghanistan remain stripped of basic freedoms.
“These women are not innocent bystanders,” Adams stressed, adding that they travel freely with their husbands while ordinary Afghan women are confined at home, barred from education, employment, and even basic identification. She pledged to continue releasing such images until the Taliban reverses its discriminatory policy.
Earlier this week, reports suggested Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada had issued an oral decree banning women’s photos in official documents. The regime’s Dar al-Ifta later said photographs would only be mandatory for Afghan women living overseas, while for those inside Afghanistan the practice was “contrary to Sharia.”
