Taliban detain nearly 20 UN-linked staff briefly over trimmed beard

The Taliban regime's morality police briefly detained nearly 20 aid workers for allegedly having trimmed beards or not maintaining beards in line with the group's regulations, 24NewsHD TV reported on Monday.

According to a foreign news agency, the workers were taken into custody on Saturday while working near the Islam Qala border crossing on the Afghanistan-Iran frontier.

The detained individuals were affiliated with organizations that cooperate with the United Nations in providing humanitarian assistance.

The report cited an internal statement from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which said that Taliban morality police arrested local male staff members of UN partner organizations at the Islam Qala Reception Centre because they had either shaved or trimmed their beards.

The statement added that some of the aid workers were released later the same day, while the remaining detainees were freed the following day.

The incident has raised concerns among humanitarian organizations operating in Afghanistan, where aid agencies continue to support vulnerable communities facing economic hardship and displacement.

The foreign news agency reported that Afghanistan’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice declined to comment on the incident.