Afghanistan’s supreme commander and Taliban head ordered women to wear the all-covering burqa in public on Saturday, imposing one of the severe restrictions on women’s life since the hardline Islamists took power.

“They shall wear a chadori (head-to-toe burqa) since it is customary and polite,” declared a directive issued by Taliban authorities during an event in Kabul.
Some Afghan women reacted fiercely at first, conducting small marches and protests in which they sought the right to educate and employment.

However, the Taliban clamped down on these unofficial demonstrations and apprehended some of the ringleaders, detaining them incommunicado while denying detention.

Girls were allowed to attend school and women were allowed to work in all industries during the 20 years between the Taliban’s two reigns, while the country remained socially conservative.

In rural Afghanistan, where the culture is strongly traditional and patriarchal, many women already wear the burqa.

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