BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Taleban enforce turban order

The Taleban authorities in Afghanistan have said that male students and school children will be sent home if they fail to wear a turban.

Several months ago the Taleban leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, ordered that all students should wear the traditional Afghan turban while boys below the age of nine should wear a small skull cap.

The order has come into effect since schools and universities resumed for the new academic year last week.

Afghan adult men are already required to wear untrimmed beards and a head covering while women must cover themselves completely in public.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service