Taliban morality police have continued detaining women in the western city of Herat over alleged violations of their dress code, while similar arrests have now been reported in neighboring Farah province, local sources and residents said.
Sources told Amu that officers from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice detained several women on Wednesday along Herat’s 64-meter road, one of the city’s main thoroughfares. On Thursday morning, they said, two young women were forcibly detained on Lilami Road and taken away in a coaster minibus to an undisclosed location.
The women were heard shouting and calling for help as they were taken away, according to witnesses.
Residents said Taliban morality officers have been patrolling streets across central Herat daily as part of an intensified campaign that began about three weeks ago.
Earlier this month, the Taliban’s police security chief in Herat acknowledged that more than 19 women had been detained, saying the campaign aimed to promote what he described as proper observance of the Islamic dress code and would continue.
Local sources said the crackdown has also spread to neighboring Farah province, where several women have reportedly been detained over allegations of traveling without a male guardian, or mahram, or failing to comply with the Taliban’s prescribed dress requirements.
One resident of Farah said those detained included members of the province’s Shia community.
Women in Herat described growing fear of leaving their homes as the arrests continue.
“Even when our hijab fully complies with the rules, we are still under pressure,” one woman told Amu. “Our families also put pressure on us. Life is becoming more difficult.”
Another resident said women now leave their homes with constant anxiety.
“Every day life becomes harder for us,” she said. “Whenever we go outside, we fear that any woman could be detained.”
The latest arrests come after the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that at least 30 women and girls were detained in Herat by Taliban morality officers over alleged dress code violations on June 7 and 8. Rights groups and several foreign governments have condemned the arrests, saying they represent a further escalation of restrictions on Afghan women.
Herat’s Taliban governor, Noor Ahmad Islamjar, has defended the detentions, describing them as enforcement of what he called “the command of God and the Prophet.”
Meanwhile, local sources at the Islam Qala border crossing in Herat said Taliban authorities have instructed male employees of humanitarian organizations—and the male guardians of female aid workers—to grow beards in accordance with the Taliban’s requirements within one month or face detention.
The warning follows the reported detention of 17 humanitarian workers at the Islam Qala reception center on June 20 after Taliban said their beards were too short or clean-shaven.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including limits on education, employment and freedom of movement. The recent wave of arrests in Herat has become one of the most visible campaigns enforcing the Taliban’s morality laws since the enactment of the Taliban’s Law on the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice last year.
