Taliban monitors mandatory beard rules for Afghanistan’s civil servants

Kabul, Mar 28 (EFE).- Taliban anti-vice patrols on Monday vetted the facial hair of civil servants and reprimanded those who failed to sport mandatory beards, a policy enforcement that comes after the hardline group mandated gender segregation in public parks and prevented girls from attending secondary schools.

“We conducted a follow up of our instructions regarding compliance with Islamic rules, but some of the employees haven’t adhered to our instructions, so we stopped at the entrance and re-advised them,” Mohammad Sadiq Akif, spokesman for the ministry of propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, told Efe.

The spokesman added that the civil servants were subsequently allowed to resume work.

The ministry of virtue last month sent instructions to government offices advising that it was mandatory for male employees to grow or maintain a beard and for women to wear veils.

The Taliban government also ordered gender segregation in the offices.

In a series of policy announcements in December, the Taliban virtue ministry prohibited women from traveling on long journeys without a male companion.

During the Taliban’s previous regime in Afghanistan, between 1996-2001, the group enforced its harsh interpretation of Islam, banning girls from school and keeping woman largely housebound.EFE

lk-daa/jt