The Taliban stormed Kabul’s abandoned Norwegian embassy complex to destroy bottles of wine and rip apart now banned children’s DVDs by hand.
This photo shows a Taliban fighter trying to tear apart a DVD with the Norwegian children’s film “Kurt Blir Grusom” (“Kurt becomes cruel”), which is about a forklift driver who turns evil.
The Taliban have quietly announced the return of an infamous government ministry that in the 1990s deployed patrols of men with whips to ensure women adhered to rules on not working outside the home or the mandatory wearing of burkas.
Despite promises they would not enforce the same draconian social rules the return of the Ministry for Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has done little to dispel concerns of a return to those days.
After Tuesday’s announcement of the new cabinet, the English translation released by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid differed in a significant way from the Dari language release: the Vice ministry was the only ministry not translated into English, apparently because of its negative reputation from the 1990s.
“They’re bringing back the guys with the whips to make sure women wear burkas and don’t leave the house,” said a Western aid worker, who remains in Kabul and asked not be named for security reasons, of the notorious patrols which would enforce dress codes for men and women, enforce participation in public prayers and patrol for inappropriate contact between men and women.
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