Taliban authorities in western Afghanistan have detained four young men in Herat after they were seen wearing outfits inspired by the British television series Peaky Blinders, accusing them of promoting “foreign culture.”
The men were arrested in Jebrael township in the city of Herat by Taliban’s morality enforcers, according to Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, the Taliban’s spokesman for the vice and virtue ministry.
Photos of the group — wearing long coats, flat caps and styled clothes similar to characters from the Shelby family in the crime drama — had circulated widely on Afghan social media in recent days, where some users dubbed them the “Jebrael Shelbys.”
In an interview published earlier on the YouTube channel “Herat Mic,” the young men said they dressed this way out of admiration for the show’s fashion and received mostly positive reactions from local residents. One said the group had hoped to later showcase traditional clothing from Afghanistan’s ethnic groups as well.
The Taliban ministry said the behaviour was inconsistent with “Islamic values and Afghan culture.” Khyber also posted a video of one of the youths expressing regret for his appearance.
Taliban have previously detained many for perceived violations of dress codes and have instructed barbers not to cut beards or style hair in what they deem “Western” fashion.
The Taliban Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) — which replaced the former Ministry of Women’s Affairs after the Taliban seized power in 2021 — enforces a wide range of rules on public conduct. UN agencies have warned that its directives and punishments are often unpredictable and contribute to “an atmosphere of fear.”
Peaky Blinders, first aired by the BBC, is a British crime drama set in 1920s Birmingham and known for its distinctive costume style, led by actor Cillian Murphy’s portrayal of gang leader Thomas Shelby. A new series continuing the Shelby family story was announced in October.
