Kabul: Unable to grow a long beard? Think twice before entering Afghanistan, even if you are an aid worker.
Morality police of the Taliban regime reportedly detained around 20 aid workers at a reception centre near Afghanistan’s border with Iran after accusing them of failing to comply with the country’s beard-length requirements, aid organisation sources told AFP.
Taliban authorities in Kabul rule according to a strict interpretation of Islamic law and have said men must grow beards longer than a clenched fist.
The incident occurred on Saturday at the Islam Qala border crossing in western Afghanistan, a key transit point linking the country with Iran.
The workers were employed by organisations partnering with the United Nations (UN) and were carrying out humanitarian activities at the facility when officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) intervened, it has been reported.
The report further said that internal communications indicated that the men were taken into custody because their beards were not long enough, had bee
n trimmed or shaved in violation of Taliban regulations.
The detained individuals were “national male staff members from UN implementing partner organisations” working at the Islam Qala Reception Centre, a statement attributed to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.
Some of the workers were released later on Saturday, while the remaining detainees were freed the following day, the same communication said, as reported by News18.
While Taliban authorities have not officially confirmed the reported detentions, Ziauddin Taib, who oversees morality police operations in Herat province, rejected claims that NGO workers had been arrested.
“No one from NGOs has been arrested or imprisoned,” Taib told AFP.
Morality police personnel had detained five government employees from different departments because their beards did not meet the required standard, he acknowledged.
A third aid worker familiar with the incident told AFP though that approximately 20 employees from various service agencies operating at the border facility were taken away by morality police officers and transferred to Kohsan district before being released.
The Taliban have steadily expanded enforcement of social and religious regulations based on their interpretation of Islamic law since regaining control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Men are supposed to grow beards beyond a specified length. A beard should be at least as long as a clenched fist, Taliban officials have previously indicated.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice has become one of the movement’s most visible enforcement bodies, overseeing regulations related to dress codes, public behaviour and religious observance.