Kabul, Sep 22 (FN Agency) Women-owned businesses, especially restaurants and cafes, in Kabul city have remained closed for the past month since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Niki Tabasom spent one million Afghanis to open a café in Kabul three years ago. She said that her café’s staff comprised women who had lost their jobs when the previous government collapsed, Tolo News reported. She was collecting about 20,000 Afs daily from her café. Niki Tabasom said: “The café has been closed since the Taliban came to Kabul. My colleagues and I lost our jobs.” In order to feed their families, the women are seeking ways to work and earn money, Tabasom said. “Women are the breadwinners for some families, so these families are facing economic and financial problems,” she added. The café’s employees said that each of them has a family to feed. Opportunities for work must be found for women. Qadira said: “They should consider our demands. When they don’t pay attention, how will the Taliban start governance?” Sabrina Sultani said: “I was earning my livelihood by working at the café for two years. I helped my family.”
Afghan businesswomen lost millions of Afs as the Taliban took Afghanistan in mid-August. Noor-ul-Haq Omari, head of the Union of Kabul Workers, said: “Investments led by women have unfortunately stopped. They lost their jobs and funds. In some cases, the women have sold their company’s expensive things at a very low prices.” Dozens of Afghan businesswomen had begun to invest in various fields across the country over the past few years, and now everything has stopped with the advent of the Taliban. The Islamist militia wants to rule the country according to strict religious rules.