About a dozen women protested in the Afghan capital on Tuesday against the Taliban’s new edict that females must fully cover their faces and bodies when in public.

Recall that Afghanistan’s supreme leader and Taliban chief Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a mandate over the weekend ordering women to cover up fully, ideally with the traditional all-covering burqa.

The diktat is the latest in a series of creeping restrictions in Afghanistan, where the Islamists have rolled back the marginal gains made by women after a US-led invasion toppled the first Taliban regime in 2001.

After a short procession, the march was halted by Taliban fighters, who also obstructed journalists from reporting on the event.

Akhundzada’s decree, which also orders women to “stay at home” if they have no important work outside, has triggered international condemnation.