Taliban issue no-shave order in southern Afghanistan province: “No one has the right to complain”

The Taliban on Monday issued an order banning shaving or beard trimming in the southern province of Helmand, threatening to punish barbers who violate the directive.

The Taliban provincial government’s department of vices and virtues issued the order to barbers in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, arguing that the policy, which is reminiscent of the Taliban’s hardline rule in the 1990s, is Sharia-compliant, according to The Associated Presse.

“If someone breaks the rule [they] will be punished and no one has the right to complain, ”the order reportedly said.

He did not, however, specify what penalties barbers would face if they violated the policy.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan last month, toppling the current government amid the withdrawal of US troops from the country.

The insurgent group has since announced its interim government, which includes a number of die-hard leaders from its previous reign in the late 1990s, but no women.

The world is now watching to see how the militant organization will rule Afghanistan and whether it will resurrect the strict policies enacted more than two decades ago.

Since the Taliban were ousted from power by the United States in 2001, men have been shaving or trimming their beards cleanly in Afghanistan.

The Taliban gave a potential glimpse into how they will rule this weekend when officials hung a body from a crane in the main square in the town of Herat.

Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a local pharmacy, told the AP that four bodies were brought to the square and three were taken to other parts of the city for public display.

Jalaluddin, owner of a hair salon in Afghanistan, said he hoped the Taliban would rethink their new policy.

“I ask our Taliban brothers to give people the freedom to live as they wish, if they want to cut their beards or their hair,” he said, according to the AP.

“Now we have few customers coming to us, they are scared, they don’t want to cut their hair or beards, so I ask them to let people free, so that we have our business and people can come freely to us, “he added. .

Sher Afzal, another barber shop owner, said the no-shave order would hurt stores financially.

“If someone comes for a haircut, they will come back to us after 40-45 days, so it affects our business like any other business,” he said, according to the AP.