The Taliban’s vice and virtue department in Herat has ordered male United Nations employees to refrain from coming to work without beards, sources within the UN in Herat told Amu.
According to the sources, Taliban officials visited the Islam Qala center in Herat on Saturday afternoon (February 8) and warned male employees that shaving or trimming their beards would result in imprisonment.
This directive follows previous bans on beard trimming in government institutions and academic environments, reflecting the Taliban’s continued enforcement of strict social codes.
The warning comes amid mounting challenges for humanitarian operations in Afghanistan. In December, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported significant access constraints in November, with 164 incidents recorded—a 56 percent increase from October and an 11 percent rise compared to the same period in 2022.
The report stated that 99 percent of these incidents were attributed to actions by the Taliban. The Southern, Central Highlands, Western, and Central regions accounted for 67 percent of the cases. These challenges disrupted aid delivery, leading to the temporary suspension of 72 projects, the permanent halt of two initiatives, and the closure of one facility.
