By John Ikani
The Taliban on Saturday ruled Afghan women must cover their faces, according to a decree from the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The decree read out at a press conference in Kabul marks one of the strictest controls imposed on women’s lives since the hardline Islamists seized power in August.
“They [women] should wear a chadori [head-to-toe burqa] as it is traditional and respectful,” the decree said, referring to the dress that became a global symbol of the Taliban’s previous hardline regime from 1996 until 2001.
The statement said the measure was introduced “in order to avoid provocation when meeting men who are not mahram (adult close male relatives).”
The decree said older women and young girls were exempt.
Akhundzada’s decree also said that if women had no important work outside it was “better they stay at home”.
The militants took back control of the country in August last year, promising a softer rule than their last stint in power between 1996 and 2001, which was dominated by human rights abuses.
But they have already imposed a slew of restrictions on women — banning them from many government jobs, secondary education, and from travelling alone outside their cities or Afghanistan.
Some Afghan women initially pushed back strongly, holding small demonstrations and protests where they demanded the right to education and work.
But the Taliban cracked down on these unsanctioned rallies and rounded up several of the ringleaders, holding them incommunicado while denying they had been detained.
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