Taliban divisions deepen as Afghan women defy veil edict

By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A new Taliban decree that demands women cover up from head to toe in public, showing at most their eyes, has left many Afghans angry or fearful. On Sunday, a day after the edict was issued, many women were seen in the capital of Kabul wearing their customary conservative attire of headscarves and long coats, with their faces showing. It wasn’t clear if it was habit or defiance, and at what point the Taliban government would begin enforcing the decree. The new restrictions on women have drawn sharp criticism from the West and are bound to deepen divisions between hardliners and pragmatists in the Taliban leadership.