Following through on an order that prompted rare protests in the capital, the Taliban said the services of the women-only businesses violated Shariah law.
While the Taliban have erased most obvious vestiges of the U.S. nation-building effort in Afghanistan, the cultural legacy of two decades of American occupation has been harder to stamp out.
The fighting comes amid rising political tension between the two countries over the flow of water from the Helmand River in Afghanistan into eastern Iran.
Hundreds have died in plunging temperatures, and malnutrition has been rampant as the Taliban government’s ban on female workers has hampered international aid.