BOTOX UNDER BURQAS Cosmetic surgery in vogue in Afghanistan

DECKED out with fake crystal chandeliers and velvet sofas, cosmetic surgery clinics in Afghanistan's capital are a world away from the austerity of Taliban rule, where Botox, lip filler, and hair transplants reign.

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Despite the Taliban authorities' strict theocratic rule and prevailing conservatism and poverty in Afghanistan, the 20 or so clinics in Kabul have flourished since the end of decades of war in the country.

Foreign doctors, especially from Türkiye, travel to Kabul to train Afghans, who undertake internships in Istanbul, while equipment is imported from Asia or Europe.

In the waiting rooms, the clientele is often well-off and includes men with thinning hair. But the majority are women, sometimes heavily made up and always covered from head to toe, more rarely in an all-enveloping burqa.

At 25, Silsila Hamidi decided to get a second facelift, convinced her skin had suffered from the stress of being a woman in Afghanistan.

"Even if others can't see us, we see ourselves: looking beautiful in the mirror gives us energy," said Hamidi, before she went under the knife to lift the upper part of her face, which "was starting to sag".