Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government ordered women to wear a burqa in public areas and government institutions, in a re-emergence of the head-to-toe covering less than a year after it took control of the country.
The legal guardians of women who refuse to comply with the order face penalties such as detentions and prosecutions, according to a Taliban decree on Saturday. Female civil servants will be sacked for failing to obey, it said.
The burqa should be worn because “it is a respected tradition in Afghanistan and the best type of Hijab,” according to the decree. Women can alternatively wear lose-fitting black veils, it said, adding the rules are intended to avoid the “seduction” of males.
