Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have arrested dozens of civilians trying to flee abroad illegally.
A senior Taliban official said dozens of people had been prevented from leaving Afghanistan illegally by plane, including several women, and that the women had been detained so far, according to AFP. They will be kept until one of their male relatives comes and takes them away.
It is thought that thousands of Afghans fled Kabul on evacuation flights when the Taliban returned to power in August last year following the sudden and abrupt withdrawal of US coalition forces.
A few countries and international NGOs have since been evacuating Afghans on irregular chartered flights, but Taliban officials are also working hard to stop it.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on the social networking site Twitter that some people tried to leave the country on a flight from the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
He said 40 people had been arrested for trying to board a plane illegally.
He said most had been released, but that some women were still in custody because their male relatives no longer came to pick them up.
He did not immediately elaborate on who arranged the flight.
According to reports, thousands of Afghans are still reluctant to leave the country for fear of retaliation by the Taliban due to their ties to foreign forces or the US-backed former government.
Taliban officials insist that any citizen with valid travel documents and a visa to the country where he wants to go can leave the country, but in a country where only a few embassies are operating, completing paperwork is a must. It's difficult.
Afghanistan's new government has also called on skilled and trained Afghans to stay in the country and help rebuild the country.
The Taliban have imposed a number of restrictions on women, despite promises of a softer regime than in their first hardline government from 1996 to 2001.
Women have been barred from traveling long distances unless they have a close male relative with them and women have also been barred from returning to work in many government departments.
In recent weeks, women social workers have staged small protests at various locations in Kabul and other cities, but rallies are also usually dispersed using force.
