"Our Voices.. Cut Off": Afghan Women Taekwondo Fighters Feel Defeated By Taliban

Afghanistan News: Taliban have yet to publicise a formal policy on women in sport, the Taliban have made comments that indicate serious participation will be impossible.

Zarghunna Noori has always been a fighter, but the 22-year-old taekwondo champion -- who dreamt of representing Afghanistan at the Olympics -- says she has finally met her match.

"In sports when we lose we are left feeling terrible," she told AFP at her home in the western city of Herat.

"And now we have been defeated by the Taliban."

The Taliban's all-male government has shut down the ministry of women's affairs and replaced it with one that earned notoriety for enforcing religious doctrine during the hardliners' 1996-2001 stint in power.