Afghanistan's supreme leader and Taliban chief has ordered the country's women to wear the all-covering burka in public, in one of the harshest controls imposed on women since the Taliban seized power.

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

"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]," the decree said.

The Taliban "want our sisters to live with dignity and safety," said Khalid Hanafi, acting minister for the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.

A spokesman for the ministry read the decree, saying that a woman's father or closest male relative would be visited and eventually imprisoned or fired from government jobs if she did not cover her face outside the home.

The Taliban added the ideal face covering was the all-encompassing blue burka, which became a global symbol of the Taliban's previous hardline regime.

If women had no important work outside it was "better they stay at home," read the decree.

During their first regime between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban imposed similar restrictions on women.

Most women in Afghanistan wear a headscarf for religious reasons, but many in urban areas such as Kabul do not cover their faces.

The group has faced intense pushback, led by Western governments but joined by some religious scholars and Islamic countries for their growing limits on women's rights.

A surprise U-turn in March in which the group shuttered girls' high schools on the morning they were due to open drew the ire of the international community and prompted the US to cancel planned meetings on easing the country's financial crisis.

Washington and other nations have cut development aid and enforced strict sanctions on the banking system, since the Taliban took over in August, pushing the country towards economic ruin.

The Taliban has said it has changed since it last ruled, when it banned girls' education or women leaving the house without a male relative and women were required to cover their faces.

However, in recent months the administration has increased its restrictions on women, including rules limiting their travel without a male chaperone and banning men and women from visiting parks at the same time.

AFP/Reuters