Taliban local officials have issued a ban on shaving beards in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand, local media have reported.
The Taliban's director of information and culture, Hafiz Rashed Helmand, told local daily newspaper Etilaatroz on Sunday that the decision was made by the Taliban's religious police during a meeting with barbershop owners in the province.
An official letter issued by Taliban authorities has been circulating on social media, in which Taliban officials in the province warned barbershops of consequences if it is proven that they have shaved someone's beard.
The Taliban regime's official spokesman did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The hardliners overthrew the internationally-backed Afghan government last month.
Since then, the regime has imposed gender-based segregation on university classes and prevented women from working in public. In addition, girls are not allowed to attend school beyond sixth grade.
On Saturday, the Taliban displayed the bodies of four men it alleged were kidnappers in the western Afghan city of Herat.
During the Taliban's regime in the late 1990s, the extremist group was known for punishing crimes with public lashings, publicly stoning people to death and amputating people's limbs.
Afghans and governments worldwide are watching to see whether the militant Islamists will govern more moderately this time, although there has been little indication of this so far.
Australian Associated Press
