RASC News Agency: Local media in Herat province report that the Taliban have escalated their control over book imports from Iran, implementing a blacklist of banned titles and systematically removing these works from libraries. In their latest move, the Taliban’s Propagation of Virtue department in Herat announced a prohibition on books containing illustrations of living beings. This ban primarily targets children’s books, which often feature images and drawings designed to engage young readers.
These inspections are overseen by a commission established under the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, formed following the group’s return to power in 2021. Last month, the ministry revealed that the commission had identified 400 book titles deemed “inconsistent with Islamic and Afghanistan values.” Many of these titles have been confiscated from marketplaces and public institutions.
According to a statement by the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture, copies of the Quran and other Islamic texts have been distributed to replace the seized books. Although official statistics on the number of confiscated works have not been released, two credible sources a Kabul-based publisher and a Taliban official confirmed that the confiscations began during the Taliban’s first year in power and resumed recently. A publisher in Kabul told AFP, “Censorship is now pervasive. Operating under these conditions has become extremely challenging, and fear dominates every aspect of our work.” He added, “While the previous government also imposed restrictions, people were not afraid to speak openly or share their views.”
The Taliban have banned hundreds of book titles across a wide range of topics. These include works on fundamentalism, terrorism, enlightenment, Tajik identity, the Persian language, Shia Islam, Ahmad Shah Massoud, the First Resistance, and philosophical or anti-extremist subjects. These books have been systematically removed from public libraries and private markets, underscoring the Taliban’s broader campaign to suppress intellectual diversity and stifle critical discourse.
