Taliban impose the burqa in public on Afghan women

The supreme leader of the Taliban ordered women to wear the burqa in public by decree, setting the story back over 20 years.

The imposition of the burqa is motivated by the fact that "it is traditional and respectful", according to the Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada who signed the decree made public on Saturday by the Taliban government in front of the press in Kabul.

"Women who are neither too young nor too old - reads the decree - should veil their faces in front of a man who is not a member of their family", to avoid provocation.

But not only that: if they do not have an important task to perform outside, it is "better that they stay at home".

A decision that takes history back over 20 years.

The Taliban had in fact imposed the use of the burqa during their first period in power between 1996 and 2001, marked by a strong repression of women's rights, based on their radical interpretation of the Sharia, the Islamic law.

After taking power in mid-August, ending 20 years of occupation by the United States and its allies, which had ousted them in 2001, the Taliban had promised this time to be more flexible.

But within a short time they started breaking this promise, gradually and steadily eroding women's rights and freedoms.

They are currently largely excluded from public works and are prohibited from traveling alone.

And last March, the Taliban closed high schools and colleges to girls, just hours after their long-announced reopening.