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The Talibanhas detained four young men for dressing in attire inspired by Peaky Blinders, local media reports.

The males were held in Hera,Afghanistanby Taliban moral police and charged with ‘spreading foreign culture’.

Images of the group — dressed in long coats, flat caps, and fashionably styled attire reminiscent of characters from the Shelby family — have been widely shared on Afghan social media in recent days, with some users referring to them as the ‘Jebrael Shelbys.’

In an interview released earlier on theYouTubechannel ‘Herat Mic,’ the young men stated that they dressed in the outfits due to their admiration for the show’s style and experienced mostly favorable responses from locals.

One of them mentioned they also planned to display traditional attire from various ethnic groups in Afghanistan.

The spokesperson for the Taliban’s Department of Promoting Virtue and Preventing Vice, Saiful Islam Khyber, stated that the actions were not in line with ‘Islamic values and Afghan traditions’.

Khyber also shared a video featuring one of the individuals showing remorse for his actions.

The Taliban has previously arrested numerous individuals for allegedly breaking dress regulations — including barbers being instructed not to trim beards or style hair in what they consider ‘Western’ styles.

Ahmadullah Waak, a human rights activist based in Kabul, claims that these arrests demonstrate the expanding limits on individual expression under Taliban governance, where decisions about attire, online behavior, and creative self-expression are increasingly leading to imprisonment.

It follows last year’s ban by the Taliban on images of “all living beings” as part of the regime’s strict interpretation of Islamic law.

The morality department in Afghanistan, responsible for enforcing Islamic law across the nation since the Taliban took control in 2021, stated that the restriction on photography would be implemented step by step.

In the meantime, officials from the Taliban have kept on frequently sharing images of individuals on social media platforms.

Khyber informed reporters at that time that the law would be applicable across all of Afghan society.

Read more

• Why are the Taliban’s moral enforcement officers focusing on barbers and regular men in Afghanistan?
• What is the intention behind the Taliban’s prohibition of images of ‘all living entities’ in relation to transforming Afghan media?
• In what ways are the Taliban’s contentious ‘vice and virtue’ regulations affecting the lives of women in Afghanistan?
• Is Afghanistan experiencing an intolerable gender-based segregation as the Taliban imposes strict limitations on women’s participation in both public and private areas?
• In what ways are Western influencers romanticizing Afghanistan under Taliban rule, despite the United Nations’ alerts regarding human rights issues?