KABUL: Four major international aid groups on Sunday suspended their operations in Afghanistan after the South Asian country's Taliban rulers banned women from working at nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Save the Children, the International Rescue Committee, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE said they couldn't effectively reach children, women and men in desperate need in Afghanistan without the women in their workforces. The ban was introduced a day earlier, allegedly because women weren't wearing the Islamic headscarf correctly.