Hosna, 45, lives in Lashkargah and has been the sole provider for her four orphaned children since her husband was killed. To feed them she set up a mobile stall in the city, but she says the Taliban stopped her from running it.
According to sources, several women in Helmand who head their households said on Tuesday that the Taliban allow them neither to earn a living nor to beg. Their children are going hungry, they said, and they fear for their basic needs and their future.
Hosna says the Taliban have formed a committee to round up beggars, whose members prevent anyone from begging in the city. Local sources say committee members patrol the city daily, stopping people from begging and women from economic activity. There was no immediate response from Taliban authorities to the claims.
The Taliban banned begging in Afghanistan about three years ago and have also imposed sweeping restrictions on women's employment, sharply reducing their economic and social participation.