FACT CHECK: Does This Image Show A Man In A Burqa During A Pro-Taliban Event?

An image shared on Twitter allegedly shows a man in a burqa among a group of burqa-clad women with Taliban flags.

Most of them are men 😮🤔🙄@MuslimShirzad @DastageerMuska @AnisaShaheed1 @FForotan @ShujaZaky @LNajafizada @LinaRozbih pic.twitter.com/SOXFNWyGpo

— Mujib Salihi (@Mujib90818495) September 11, 2021

Verdict: False

The photo has been digitally altered to include the bearded man’s face in the front row.

Fact Check:

Hundreds of Afghan women, many of whom held pro-Taliban signs and flags, gathered in a theater at a Kabul university on Sept. 11, The New York Times reported. The women wore burqas or niqabs as they listened to speakers talk favorably about the Taliban and the militant group’s policies, France 24 reported.

Following that gathering in Kabul, a picture purportedly showing a man dressed in a burqa in the foreground started circulating online. The image has been widely shared on Twitter. (RELATED: No, This Image Of Afghan Women Chained Together Is Not Real)

However, the photo has been digitally altered to include the man’s face on the figure in the front row. The original image, which can be found in an article published by the Afghan news outlet Khaama Press, shows the person’s face was fully covered by a black veil.

Lotfullah Najafizada, the head of TOLOnews TV, also tweeted the undoctored version of the picture on Sept. 11, saying it showed “Pro-Taliban women gathering in Kabul.”

Pro-Taliban women gathering in Kabul. pic.twitter.com/G9GYNpzjNl

— Lotfullah Najafizada (@LNajafizada) September 11, 2021

Though the Taliban promised in August to respect women’s rights within the confines of Islamic religious law, the militant group severely restricted them during its rule in the 90s, according to The New York Times. Groups of Afghan women have been protesting against various Taliban measures, including the militant group’s announcement of an all-male interim government and a mandatory Islamic dress code in universities, CNN reported.

The Taliban on Sunday announced that it would be mandatory for there to be gender segregation and Islamic dress code in university classrooms, according to Reuters.

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