A spokesman for the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice read the decree from the group’s supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada at a press conference in KabulSaying that a woman’s father or nearest male relative will be visited and eventually fired from government job if she does not cover her face outside the house.
He said the ideal face covering was the blue burqa, which became a global symbol of the Taliban’s previous radical regime from 1996 to 2001.
most women Afghanistan Head scarves are worn for religious reasons, but in urban areas such as Kabul, many do not cover their faces.
The group has faced intense backlash from the leadership of Western governments, but has been joined by some religious scholars and Islamic countries for their increasing limits on women’s rights.
A surprise U-turn in March in which the group closed girls’ high schools in the morning attracted the outrage of the international community as they remained open and prompted the United States to suspend planned meetings to ease the country’s financial woes. prompted to cancel.
Washington and other countries have cut development aid and imposed tough sanctions on the banking system since the Taliban came to power in August, pushing the country into economic ruin.
The Taliban have said this has changed since the last time it ruled when it banned girls’ education or allowed women to leave home without a male relative and required women to cover their faces. .
However, in recent months the administration has increased its restrictions on women, including rules limiting their travel without male patrons and banning men and women from visiting parks at the same time.