The Taliban says women in Afghanistan must wear head-to-toe clothing in public

Afghan women wait to receive food rations distributed by a Saudi humanitarian aid group, in Kabul on April 25. Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public. (Ebrahim Noroozi / AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan's Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public — a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community.

The decree, which calls for women to only show their eyes and recommends they wear the head-to-toe burqa, evoked similar restrictions on women during the Taliban's previous rule between 1996 and 2001.