Afghanistan’s supreme leader and Taliban chief on Saturday ordered the country’s women to wear the all-covering burqa in public. “They should wear a chadori (head-to-toe burqa) as it is traditional and respectful,” said a decree issued by Haibatullah Akhundzada that was released by Taliban authorities at a function in Kabul.
A spokesman for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice read out the decree, saying that a woman’s father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not cover her face outside the home.
They added the ideal face covering was the all-encompassing blue burqa.
Earlier this year, the Taliban’s religious police put up posters around the capital Kabul ordering Afghan women to cover up.
The poster, which included an image of the face-covering burqa, was slapped on cafes and shops by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.
Since returning to power in August, the Taliban have increasingly curtailed freedoms, particularly those of women and girls. “According to Sharia law, Muslim women must wear the hijab,” the poster read.
