Northern Alliance Lifts All Taliban Bans On Mazar-i-sharif

In the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, captured by the Northern Alliance, all the bans introduced by the Taliban have been annulled. Radio broadcasts the instructions of General Abdul Rashid Dustum which annul the Talibs' bans introduced after they seized Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 - the ban for women to work and to go to school, to appear in the street not accompanied by men and not wearing yashmak, the ban to broadcast music, and so on. The reporters who visited Mazar-i-Sharif point out that women with open faces have appeared in the streets of the city, small and big shops play music, and men stand in queues to barber's shops to shave off their beards. The Taliban made it obligatory for men to wear beards. General Dustum said the local TV station would resume broadcasting and public institutions, including restaurants, would be opened. Schools for women, which were closed by the Taliban, will be opened, and women will be able to work. Tranquillity reigns in the streets of the city these days.