Bare-legged woman walking through Kabul streets shocks world

A BARE-LEGGED mystery woman has literally stopped traffic while walking through the streets of Kabul, Aghanistan.

The unknown woman was snapped sporting a mid-length overcoat and purple socks, her hair uncovered as she walked blithely down the street, ignoring the stares of locals.

Local joualist Hayat Ensafi toldBBC Newshe was so "shocked” that he "had to catch the special moment”.

"I never saw a woman here walking down the streets like this,” he said.

Ensafi said he tried to talk to the woman, but she "walked very fast and didn"t talk to me at all,” he told BBC.

Although conservative dress is now recomendded for Afghan women under Taliban rule, it was not unusual to see women wearing shorter short skirts during the 1960s and 1970s.

Shock ... Under the Taliban, women are expected to cover up and not bare any flesh. Picture: Jordanien-Betriebsausflug Dipl. Ing. Marosevic. Source: Supplied

After Ensafi posted the images on Facebook, many users commended the woman"s choice to bare her legs, with one user writing: "It"s her body not yours. Salute her courage. We want to see more women come out like that.”

Another Afghan woman wrote: "My body, my right … no to forced hijab”.

Others, however, we shocked at the exposed flesh, saying: "We are living in a Muslim country and we can"t bear such people like she is”.

The BBC"s Kabul correspondent, Syed Anwar, said the woman has become a huge topic of conversation in Kabul.

"We have seen thousands of people talk about it,” Anwar told BBC Trending.

"Not only on social media but also in the streets people are talking about her, wondering if she is mentally ill or if she is protesting.”

Some believe she was making a political statement, while others wondered ifg she was mentally ill.

Either way, her identity continues to mystify the world, and Twitter has become a-flurry trying to find the mystery woman.

\"@BBCtrending:Who is the mysterious bare-legged woman of Kabul? http://t.co/Dt7BBOqO1t pic.twitter.com/vquamn2Lmq\"she's only walking down street — joanne wilson (@joannew2020) December 9, 2014

idk who she is but I salute her RT @BBCtrending Who is the mysterious bare-legged woman of Kabul? http://t.co/nJY4BFOamf — nori (@daytripper98) December 9, 2014

RT @BBCtrending Who is the mysterious bare-legged woman of #Kabul? http://t.co/iyaEYLda7N #herbodyherchoice — Nathalie Baudet (@NathalieBaudet) December 9, 2014

Who is the mysterious bare-legged woman of Kabul? http://t.co/fX6HFldnqS pic.twitter.com/T45Kdnvm6k — BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) December 9, 2014