Afghanistan: Taliban ban barbers in Helmand province from trimming beards

AFP via Getty Images

27 September 2021

Barbers in Afghanistan’s Helmand province have been banned from shaving or trimming beards, according to reports.

Taliban religious police say it breaches their interpretation of Islamic law and anyone violating the rule will be punished, according to the BBC.

Barbers in the capital Kabul say they also received similar orders.

The instructions suggest a return to the strict rulings the Taliban adhered to when previously in power from 1996 to 2001.

Since that time clean-shaven looks have become popular and Afghan men have frequented salons for fashionable cuts.

The notice posted on salons in southern Helmand province warned that hairdressers must follow Sharia law for haircuts and beards and that “no one has a right to complain,” according to the BBC.

Since taking power last month, the Taliban have carried out harsh punishments on opponents.

On Saturday, Taliban authorities in the western Afghan city of Herat killed four alleged kidnappers and hung their bodies up in public to deter others, a local government official said.

In an interview with the Associated Press published this week, senior Taliban figure Mullah Nooruddin Turabi said the group would restore punishments like amputations and executions to deter criminals.

Despite international condemnation, the Taliban have said they will continue to impose swift and severe punishments on lawbreakers to stop crimes like robbery, murder and kidnapping that had become widespread in Afghanistan.

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