Taliban bans showing images of living things in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Showing images of living things by all media has been banned in an Afghan province in compliance with the Taliban's morality laws.

Information Ministry officials announced the decision this week in Helmand province. It is the latest province to crack down on broadcasting and photography of humans and animals.

In August, the country's Ministry of Vice and Virtue introduced regulations affecting various aspects of daily life, such as public transport, personal grooming, media, and public celebrations. These rules are based on the authorities' interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. Among the new directives, Article 17 prohibits the publication of images depicting living beings.

Officials in Helmand announced an immediate halt to the filming and photography of living creatures, though they did not provide details on enforcement or any potential exceptions. Last week, media in the provinces of Takhar, Maidan Wardak, and Kandahar began observing this directive, ceasing the display of images of living beings. Some private media channels have reportedly followed suit to ensure compliance.

Unlike other Muslim-majority nations, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, no similar restrictions on media images exist. During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban had banned most forms of media, including television, radio, and newspapers. The Ministry of Information also recently banned 400 books deemed incompatible with Islamic and Afghan cultural values.

The outlawed books have been collected from stores and publishing houses and replaced by religious texts, including the Qur'an.

A ministry spokesman, Khubaib Ghofran, was quoted by The Associated Press on X: "The Ministry of Information and Culture will collect any book written according to the nefarious plans of enemies to destroy the thought, faith, unity, and culture of this nation."