![Taliban Commander Assad Massoud Khistani speaks to CNN's Clarissa Ward [Screenshot:CNN]](https://images.dailycaller.com/image/width=960,height=411,fit=cover,f=auto/https://cdn01.dailycaller.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Taliban-Commander-Assad-Massoud-Khistani-speaks-to-CNNs-Clarissa-Ward-ScreenshotCNN-scaled-e1629205927477.jpg "Taliban Commander Assad Massoud Khistani speaks to CNN's Clarissa Ward [Screenshot:CNN]")
CNN’s Chief International Correspondent Clarissa Ward pressed the Taliban on whether women will have rights under their control and why women have to cover up as the terrorist group takes control of Afghanistan.
Taliban Commander Assad Massoud Khistani told Ward that Islamic rule will be implemented gradually but that women should not be fearful. “How do you protect women, because many women are afraid they will not be allowed to go to school, they will not be allowed to work?” asked Ward, who was surrounded by several other members of the Taliban.
“The female, the woman, can continue their life and we will not say anything for them, they can go to their school, they can continue their education,” Khistani said, noting women must cover-up.
“So like I’m wearing?” Ward asked while wearing a headscarf and abaya.
Abayas cover “everything but the face, hands, and feet,” while a burqa or niqab only leaves the eye area open, though the burqa has a mesh grill over the eyes, according to The New York Times.
“Uh, not like you, but covering their face,” Khistani responded, noting women will have to wear a Niqab, which is a veil for the face that only keeps the eyes visible.
“Why do they have to cover their face?” Ward pushed back.
“Because it is in our Islam.”
“Is it in Islam though that you have to wear a Niqab?” Ward presses.
“Of course, of course,” Khistani responded.
Ward also reported that the sale of Burqa’s appeared to spike in Kabul as women and their husbands fear the Taliban.
.@clarissaward says a Kabul shopkeeper told her he’s selling a lot more burkas “because people are frightened.”
“You start to understand how the space for women becomes smaller and smaller, how their rights become marginalized, how they ultimately become disenfranchised.” pic.twitter.com/nXVSuThsZy
— Alli Hedges Maser (@AllisonLHedges) August 17, 2021
An image of Ward wearing an abaya with her hair fully covered circulated on Twitter Monday, with Ward pushing back against what she deemed inaccurate claims. (RELATED: CNN Reporter Says Taliban Members Who Chant ‘Death To America’ Seem ‘Friendly At The Same Time’)
This meme is inaccurate. The top photo is inside a private compound. The bottom is on the streets of Taliban held Kabul. I always wore a head scarf on the street in Kabul previously, though not w/ hair fully covered and abbaya. So there is a difference but not quite this stark. pic.twitter.com/BmIRFFSdSE
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) August 16, 2021
“I always wore a head scarf on the street in Kabul previously, thought not w/ hair fully covered and abaya. So there is a difference but not quite this stark,” Ward clarified.