The Taliban imposed one of the strictest restrictions on Afghan women since capturing control on Saturday, requiring them to wear the fully covered burqa in public.

The militants retook control of the country in August of last year, pledging a kinder government than their last reign from 1996 to 2001, which was marked by human rights violations.

However, they have already placed a plethora of restrictions on women, including prohibiting females from holding numerous government positions, attending secondary school, and traveling alone outside of their city or Afghanistan.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, Afghanistan’s supreme commander and Taliban head, established a severe clothing code for women in public on Saturday.

“They should wear a chadori (head-to-toe burqa) as it is traditional and respectful,” said a decree in his name released by Taliban authorities at a ceremony in Kabul.

“Those women who are not too old or young must cover their face, except the eyes, as per sharia directives, in order to avoid provocation when meeting men who are not mahram (adult close male relatives),” it said.

The decree was likely to elicit widespread outcry throughout the world. Many in the international community want humanitarian help and recognition of the Taliban administration to be connected to the restoration of women’s rights in Afghanistan.

According to Akhundzada’s rule, if women had no significant occupation outside the house, it was “best they stay at home.”

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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