Kabul's mannequins, hooded and masked under Taliban rules

A mannequin's head is covered in a shop in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Dec. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

Under the Taliban, the mannequins in women's dress shops across the Afghan capital of Kabul are a haunting sight, their heads cloaked in cloth sacks or wrapped in black plastic bags.

The hooded mannequins are one symbol of the Taliban's puritanical rule over Afghanistan. But in a way, they are also a small show of resistance and creativity by Kabul's dress merchants.