RASC News Agency: Local sources in Laghman province report that the Taliban’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice detained eight individuals for playing music during a wedding ceremony. The arrests reportedly occurred in Alingar district, with the individuals subsequently taken into custody. Sources indicate that the wedding took place on the evening of Wednesday, November 27, in the Kabili area of Alingar district, where several young men from the village were playing musical instruments.
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Taliban officials raided the ceremony and arrested eight people, including two brothers of the groom. The detainees are now being held at the district’s central facility in Alingar. According to the source, the Taliban accused the young men of engaging in “un-Islamic activities” and stated that they must face punishment. Musical instruments present at the event were also confiscated by Taliban forces. The Taliban deem the playing and listening of music as strictly prohibited under their interpretation of Islamic law and have enforced a nationwide ban on such activities.
On the same day, reports emerged from Panjshir province that the Taliban had detained several of their local members for attending a wedding where music was played. Over the past three years, multiple incidents have been reported in which the Taliban violently disrupted wedding ceremonies for the presence of music, reflecting their staunch opposition to this cultural tradition. The Taliban regard music as a “satanic act” and actively seek to suppress its performance and dissemination. However, this stance runs counter to longstanding Afghanistani customs, where music is an integral component of wedding celebrations, and no such event is considered complete without it.
