KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said it had arrested four people in the northern provinces of Takhar and Faryab for reciting religious poetry, known as naat, in a style resembling music.
In a statement, the ministry described the practice as “forbidden and a form of mockery.” It added that the individuals had been previously warned to cease their performances.
The arrests are part of a broader crackdown by the Taliban’s morality police. According to data complied by Amu, the ministry detained at least 44 people—including six women—across several provinces in the past month on various charges.
The detainees were accused of offenses such as “moral corruption, gambling, sorcery, illicit relationships, and acts contrary to Sharia,” the ministry said.
Residents have expressed growing concern over the Taliban’s enforcement of its strict interpretation of Islamic law, saying that the group has used its morality policing as a pretext to curtail personal freedoms and intrude into private lives.
The highest number of arrests in the past month, according to reports, were recorded in the provinces of Kandahar, Paktia, Khost, Ghazni, Kabul, Parwan, and Nangarhar.
