Taliban supreme leader orders women to wear all-covering burqa in public: Report

Taliban imposes one of the harshest controls imposed on women's lives since the hardline Islamists seized power.

Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief on Saturday ordered the country's women to wear the all-covering burqa in public -- one of the harshest controls imposed on women's lives since the hardline Islamists seized power.

Women walk through the old market as a Taliban fighter stands guard, in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, (AP)

"They should wear a chadori (head-to-toe burqa) as it is traditional and respectful," said a decree issued by Hibatullah Akhundzada that was released by Taliban authorities at a function in Kabul.