Thread by @Reuters

In early July, as Taliban insurgents were seizing territory from government forces across Afghanistan, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave reut.rs/3yPiB7a 1/6

The gunmen escorted them to their homes and told them not to return to their jobs. Instead, they explained that male relatives could take their place, according to three of the women involved and the bank's manager 2/6

The incident is an early sign that some of the rights won by Afghan women over the 20 years since the hardline Islamist militant movement was toppled could be reversed if it returns to power 3/6

Two days after the episode at Azizi Bank, a similar scene played out at a branch of another Afghan lender, Bank Milli, in the western city of Herat, according to two female cashiers who witnessed it 4/6

Gains made in women's right have been touted as one of the biggest accomplishments during the two decades that U.S.-led forces have been deployed in Afghanistan, although they have mostly been made in urban centers 5/6

On the broader question of whether women would be allowed to work in banks in areas it controls, Mujahid added that no decision had yet been made reut.rs/3g3f8KK 6/6 via @rupamjn