RASC News Agency: Residents of Kandahar report that Taliban officials from the “Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” have issued stern warnings, demanding that men grow their beards or face arrest. According to these officials, those who ignore the directive will be detained and potentially jailed. Taliban enforcers have reportedly been patrolling Kandahar’s marketplaces over the past week, cautioning citizens against trimming their beards. Mohammad Yousuf, an employee at a fuel station, explained that this was his second encounter with these enforcers, who insisted that he let his beard grow long.
“They arrived in a vehicle, four of them, and asked, ‘Haven’t you embraced true Islam in these three years?’” Yousuf recounted. Similar warnings have been reported by residents in Kandahar’s Spin Boldak district, where individuals claim that virtue officials threatened them with imprisonment for failing to comply. Khalil Ahmad, a car dealership owner in Spin Boldak, shared, “The virtue enforcers approached and said, ‘If you don’t grow your beard or if you shave it, you will be jailed.’” In a previous instance, during the month of Sunbula, Taliban virtue enforcers in Kandahar directed the public to grow their beards and cut their hair short, threatening punitive action for any who disregarded these instructions.
Furthermore, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice recently issued a formal directive to Badakhshan University, mandating that all students wear caps and traditional Afghanistani attire. Professors, students, and university staff are also strictly prohibited from trimming their beards. The Taliban had previously claimed that virtue enforcement activities were merely advisory, dismissing allegations that their enforcers used coercive measures against the populace.
