KABUL, May 7 (Reuters) – The Taliban ruled on Saturday that Afghan women should cover their faces, according to a ruling by the group’s top leader, escalating growing restrictions on women in a society that has provoked a backlash from the international community and many Afghans.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Virtue and Prevention read out a decree from the group’s top leader, Hibatullah Ahundzada, at a press conference in Kabul that said the woman’s father or the closest male relative would be visited and eventually be imprisoned or fired from government work if she has not covered her face outside the home.
They added that the ideal face covering was the all-encompassing blue burqa, which became a global symbol of the Taliban’s previous hardline regime from 1996 to 2001.
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Most women in Afghanistan wear headscarves for religious reasons, but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.
The group is facing intense repression led by Western governments, but has been joined by some religious scholars and Islamic countries because of growing restrictions on women’s rights.
A surprise turnaround in March, when the group closed girls’ high schools in the morning when they were due to open, drew the wrath of the international community and prompted the United States to cancel scheduled meetings to ease the country’s financial crisis.
Washington and other countries have cut development aid and imposed tough sanctions on the banking system after the Taliban took power in August, pushing the country into economic ruin.
The Taliban said they had changed since their latest decision to ban girls or women from leaving the house without male relatives, and women had to cover their faces.
However, in recent months, the administration has increased its restrictions on women, including rules restricting unaccompanied travel and banning men and women from visiting parks at the same time.
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Report from Kabul Newsroom; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Edited by Michael Perry
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