Taliban calls on Afghan women to wear headscarves

Schoolgirls sitting in the yard of a school in Afghanistan.

(AFP)

A high-ranking Taliban official confirmed that wearing the burqa will not be mandatory, as was the case when the movement ruled Afghanistan more than two decades ago, but that women must wear a veil.

"The burqa is not the only hijab that can be adhered to, there are different types of hijab," said Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the movement's political office.

Shaheen did not specify the type of hijab that women would have to adhere to.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, they banned women from leaving homes, banned entertainment and carried out public executions.

Many countries and human rights groups raised the alarm about the fate of women's education in Afghanistan after it became in the hands of the militants who entered the capital, Kabul, the day before yesterday, but Shaheen also sought to reassure Afghans about this issue.

"Women can learn from primary to higher education, which means university. We announced this policy at international conferences, the Moscow conference and the Doha conference," Shaheen said, adding that thousands of schools in areas captured by the Taliban are still operating.

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