Uzbekistan’s Termez border trade hub with Afghanistan has seen a sharp decline in footfall attributed to a newly applied Taliban ban on Afghan women under 40 from entering it.

Termez International Trade Centre, also known as Airitom Free Zone, located very near the Afghan border in the southern Surkhandarya region, was established in 2022 as a free economic zone (FEZ) under a decree issued by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. 

It quickly became a vital commercial link in building up bilateral economic relations, drawing thousands of visitors from crisis-stricken Afghanistan who cross the border under a 15-day visa-free regime. 

Now, business owners say trade has suffered following the Islamist fundamentalist Taliban’s introduced "no-go zone" restriction, which appears to be part of a broader clampdown on women’s rights in Afghanistan.

The Taliban has not publicly commented on the ban, which traders say is enforced by the group’s “morality police”. 

Families who once relied on the Termez market for shopping and trade say they have become reluctant to travel there, citing the chilling effect of the new rule.

“In the past, families — women included — made up the bulk of our customers,” one Afghan trader was cited as saying by Amu, adding: “Now that young women are banned, our sales have dropped dramatically.”

The Termez market comprises over 4,000 shops, a medical centre, restaurants and logistics facilities. It has been viewed as an encouraging symbol of cooperation between Central Asia and its neighbour in South Asia, still very much on its knees economically following decades of conflict. 

In 2024, the Taliban demanded that music no longer be played at the site, threatening to block Afghan citizens from visiting if Uzbekistan did not comply. 

The latest restriction is consistent with the Taliban’s pattern of curtailing women’s access to public and economic life since the group returned to power in August 2021. 

After pledging to respect women’s rights, the Taliban dismantled the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, banned girls from attending school beyond grade six, prohibited university education for women and blocked women from working for NGOs or appearing in public without a male guardian. 

Women under the Taliban are also barred from sports and cultural events, and media presenters are required to wear the hijab.

The Taliban’s crackdown has drawn international condemnation. 

The United Nations has labelled the regime’s treatment of women as “gender apartheid” and warned it may amount to a crime against humanity. 

Human Rights Watch has described the situation as a deepening crisis for Afghan women.

Yet regional governments have continued to engage with the Taliban. The prospect of an entirely failed state on their doorstep is not an appealing one.

In 2024, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Kazakhstan removed the group from its list of terrorist organisations to facilitate trade and economic ties, as per RFE/RL. Kyrgyzstan and Russia have done the same.

The Termez trade centre was meant to be a rare zone of open exchange, even amid Afghanistan’s political and social turmoil. But the Taliban’s growing restrictions now threaten its viability. 

In Central Asia, Uzbekistan is seen as leading efforts to engage in trade and economic cooperation with the Taliban despite the group's lack of international recognition. 

However, there are also tensions that have emerged over the Taliban’s construction of the Qosh Tepa Canal, an irrigation canal that aims to divert water from the Amu Darya River, which runs along much of Afghanistan's border with Central Asia. Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan fear the project could lead to significant water shortages.