Afghanistan: Taliban issues no-shave order to barbers

Kabul : Taliban has issued a new order asking barbers in Southern Afghanistan not to shave or trim beards, claiming that it is in the line with Islamic law. The order was issued on Monday by the provincial Taliban government’s vice and virtue department to barbers in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital.

"Since I have heard (about the ban on trimming beards) I am heartbroken," India.com quoted Bilal Ahmad, a Lashkar Gah resident. "This is the city and everyone follows a way of living, so they have to be left alone to do whatever they want."

Taliban is known for implementing strict rules during their rule on Afghanistan in late 1990s and the world is watching if they implement the same rules again as they procured the power back in Afghanistan on August 15.

Some indication came on Saturday, when Taliban fighters killed four alleged kidnappers and later hung their bodies in the public squares of the western city of Herat.

"If anyone violates the rule (they) will be punished and no one has a right to complain," said the order issued to the barbers. It wasn’t immediately clear what penalties the barbers could face if they don’t adhere to the no shaving or trimming rule.