Taliban authorities in Afghanistan enforced a nationwide ban on beauty parlors Tuesday after the expiration of a one-month deadline for owners to close the businesses, leaving tens of thousands of women without work in a country grappling with poverty.

Since returning to power nearly two years ago, the hardline Taliban have placed sweeping restrictions on the rights of women, barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment.

Beauty parlors were one of the few remaining employment opportunities for Afghan women, and a rare public place for them to socialize. Many of their workers were said to be the sole source of income for their households.

The ban puts out of business roughly 12,000 female-run salons, including 3,000 in the capital of Kabul, employing an estimated 60,000 women, according to an Afghan association of the owners.

The Taliban Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue had given beauty salons one month to close, saying they were offering services forbidden by Islam.

A ministry spokesman in a subsequent statement explained that parlors caused economic hardship for grooms’ families when brides are taken to these facilities during wedding ceremonies. He asserted that too much make-up would also prevent women from proper ablutions for prayer, while implanting hair and plucking eyebrows are against Sharia, or Islamic law. 

The edict outraged owners and beauticians, leading to a couple of rare protest rallies, urging authorities not to deprive them of their only source of earning. Last week, Taliban security forces fired shots into the air and used fire hoses in Kabul to forcefully disperse dozens of women protesting the ban.

The United Nations and human rights groups have opposed the restriction on Afghan beauty parlors. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in a recent statement called on the Taliban to reverse the edict, warning it would adversely affect the national economy and undermine support for women’s entrepreneurship. 

“The Taliban ban on beauty parlors removes another vital space for women’s work at a time when they’re struggling to feed their families, eliminates one of the few refuges for women outside the home & further transforms the country into a cruel & extreme outlier in the world,” Rina Amiri, the U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls and rights, said on Twitter after the Taliban announced they would ban beauty salons.

The restrictions on Afghan women’s rights to public life have drawn strong international criticism, with the U.N. denouncing the Taliban administration as “gender-apartheid regime.” 

No country has recognized the Taliban government, citing their treatment of women.

The fundamentalist de facto leaders justify their policies, saying they are aligned with Afghan culture and Sharia, claims scholars in the rest of Islamic countries dispute and reject.

President Joe Biden ‘s dog Commander bit Secret Service officers at least 10 times between October 2022 and January, including one incident that required a trip to the hospital for an injured law enforcement officer, according to records from the Department of Homeland Security.

The conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch on Tuesday released nearly 200 pages of Secret Service records that it obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

The group said it filed suit after the agency, a division of DHS, “failed to respond adequately” to its request last December for records about biting incidents involving the purebred German shepherd. The group said it filed the request after receiving a tip about Commander’s behavior.

The White House and the Secret Service appeared to play down the situation on Tuesday.

Elizabeth Alexander, communications director for first lady Jill Biden, said in an email that the White House complex is a “unique and often stressful environment” for family pets and that the Biden family was “working through ways to make this situation better for everyone.”

Meet the new first dogs of the White House, Major and Champ Biden.

Anthony Guglielmi, chief spokesperson for the Secret Service, said in a separate email that his agency has for the past several presidents “navigated how best to operate around family pets and these incidents are no exception. We take the safety and wellbeing of our employees extremely seriously.”

The Secret Service provides security protection for the president and his family, and scores of its officers are posted around the executive mansion and its sprawling grounds.

Biden received Commander in December 2021 as a gift from his brother James. The president’s previous dog, another German shepherd named Major, had been sent to live with friends in Delaware after some biting incidents of his own involving Secret Service officers and White House staff.

The family also has a cat, Willow.

On Nov. 3, 2022, a Secret Service official emailed colleagues that Commander had bitten a uniformed officer twice — on the upper right arm and thigh. Staff from the White House medical unit treated the officer and decided to have the individual taken to a hospital.

A captain of the Uniform Division emailed later that day that he had been advised that Commander was up to date on his vaccinations.

A note the following day added details about the attack, including that the officer who was bitten used a steel cart to protect himself from another attack. The officer later was placed on several days of restricted duty based on doctors’ advice.

Alexander said the Bidens have been working with the Secret Service and the White House residence staff “on additional leashing protocols and training” for Commander, as well as establishing designated areas where he can run around for exercise.

“The president and first lady are incredibly grateful to the Secret Service and Executive Residence staff for all they do to keep them, their family and the country safe,” Alexander added.

Major, President Biden’s German Shepherd, will have private, off-site training for the next few weeks to help him acclimate to life in the White House.

Guglielmi said Secret Service employees are encouraged to report job-related injuries to their immediate supervisors for appropriate documentation.

“As such, we are aware of past incidents involving first-family pets and these instances were treated similarly to comparable workplace injuries, to include with relevant notifications and reporting procedures followed,” he said.

“While special agents and officers neither care for nor handle the first family’s pets, we continuously work with all applicable entities to minimize adverse impacts in an environment that includes pets,” Guglielmi added.

Commander is often seen being handled by the White House’s chief groundskeeper.

The New York Post was first to report on Commander’s biting incidents.