A group of young Afghans have said they were flogged by Taliban soldiers for the crime of wearing jeans.
In a post widely shared on Facebook, an Afghan youth said they were “walking with friends in Kabul,” when they encountered a group of Taliban soldiers who accused them of disrespecting Islam.
Two of the friends escaped, the youth said, but the others were beaten, whipped on their necks and threatened at gunpoint.
According to a local newspaper, Etilaatroz, the movement was still deciding on the dress code for men, but reports suggest the Taliban is unwilling to allow ‘westernised’ clothing that deviates from traditional ‘Afghan dress’.
The newspaper added that over the weekend, one of its journalists had also been beaten for not wearing ‘Afghan clothes’ such as full-body gowns, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Under the Taliban’s previous rule in the late 90s, men had to wear traditional robes while girls were forced to wear a burqa from the age of eight.
Meanwhile, recent footage has shown Taliban fighters attacking anyone carrying an Afghan national flag in at least a dozen incidents primarily in the capital Kabul.
It comes after human rights’ group, Amnesty International, revealed that Taliban fighters massacred nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of the country’s Ghazni province last month.
