Short hair, beards, clothes The new Taliban rules in Afghanistan
Margaux Benn, edited by Manon Fossat
After taking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban are gradually imposing their own rules. In terms of haircuts, beards or even clothes. Some traders are therefore forced to organize themselves in submarines to keep their customers.REPORTAGE
In Afghanistan, the Taliban have not sent any official sign of change since their return to power. This is the observation drawn up Friday morning in Le Figaro by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian. While the international community is still waiting for the new government, it could finally be unveiled on Saturday. We already know that it will not include any women, contrary to the initial promise. And in everyday life, the Taliban are already imposing new rules, as is particularly the case in Kabul.
READ ALSO - Afghanistan: "The Taliban have not yet shown all their cruelty"
No more Western-style haircuts
In his small room decorated with posters of models, a barber met by Europe 1 is barely recovering from the fright he had a week ago. "A handful of Taliban broke into my shop. They ordered me not to cut my hair in the western style and not to shave my beard. I have to obey them and because of that, I lost my mind. most of my clients," he says.
The Taliban leaders are relentless in assuring the population that they need not fear them. But in reality, many fighters ignore the directives of their leaders. "There are several types of Taliban. Those who came here arrived in a private car and not a police vehicle for example. They had very long hair and looked like they came straight out of the countryside. They looked like aliens,” continues the barber.
>> Find the morning of the day in replay and podcast here
Officially, no law has yet been enacted that forbids shaving one's beard. But many Afghans prefer to play the precautionary card. So some merchants invent schemes to keep their customers. This is the case of a 21-year-old young woman met in her deserted beauty salon. "As no one dares to walk through the doors of beauty salons anymore, we give our phone numbers to women we trust. Then we do their makeup and do their hair in secret at home," she admits. A proof perhaps that the resistance is already organized.
