The Taliban have restricted barbers and hairdressers in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province from trimming or shaving beards, saying it is against their interpretation of the Islamic law.
"The Taliban have banned stylish hairstyles and shaving beards in Helmand province," BBC News reported.
Anyone who violates the law will be punished, Taliban religious authorities said. Some hairdressers in Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city, have said they also received similar directives.
Taliban officers warned hairdressers that they must obey the Sharia Law for haircuts and beards in a notice plastered at salons. "No one has a right to complain," it read.
"The Taliban fighters keep coming and ordering us to stop trimming beards," a barber in Kabul said. The barber added that the Taliban will send undercover inspectors to catch them.
Despite promises of a more moderate rule, the order signals a return to the harsh governance of the insurgent organization's past tenure in power.
On Friday, the Taliban said strict punishments like hand amputations and executions will be brought back in the country, one of the leaders said during an interview with The Associated Press.
The Taliban said no one tells them how to carry out their laws. "We follow Islam and we impose our laws based on the Quran," the group said.
Since taking power in August, the new rules of Afghanistan have enforced harsh punishments on opponents. On Saturday, Taliban fighters killed four suspected kidnappers and hung their bodies in the streets of Herat province.
During the Taliban's first hold of power from 1996 to 2001, the hardliners prohibited fancy hairstyles and ordered men to grow beards.
After they were ousted, having a well-shaved face was often considered a sign of modernity, including in the relatively "cultured" western city of Herat.
The latest Taliban order also contains a directive to avoid playing music or hymns on the premises of salons, The Frontier Post said.
The barbers, who requested to remain anonymous for their own safety, said the new laws are making it very hard for them to make a living.
One barber, who has been in the business for 15 years, said the restriction has caused his income to plunge from $15 to between $5 and $7 per day.
