'Abject failures': Piers Morgan goes toe to toe with Taliban

Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan has called out the Taliban's "incredibly draconian" treatment of Afghan women in a fiery no holds barred interview with the group’s spokesperson Suhail Shaheen.

The Taliban has ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe coverings in public.

The decree from supreme leader Haibatullah Akhunzada said women should leave home only when necessary, and male relatives would face punishment – including jail time – for women’s dress code violations.

It is the latest in a series of repressive moves by the Taliban leadership, which have generated concerns among human rights activists.

Mr Morgan called out the Taliban for reportedly banning girls from attending high school after the militant group vowed to bring in an "inclusive Islamic government" to Afghanistan.

"The kids after 12, 13, can't go to school, all women have to wear a covering apart from their eyes, they're not getting most jobs now apart from women-specific jobs which can't be filled by men,” he said.

"They have men now, relatives and employers, who are exercising a control over them which can be punishable if it's broken by imprisonment.

"This is incredibly draconian – I can't think of anywhere else in the world that is doing this to women.

“What part of any of this shows that you have changed?"

Mr Shaheen dismissed Mr Morgan's concerns as false media reports.

"What you are saying you have gotten from media reports which are not correct," he said.

Mr Morgan also referred to the Taliban as "abject failures" when it comes to its handling of the Afghanistan economy.