Four young men in Herat, Afghanistan, were taken into custody by the Taliban’s “virtue and vice” ministry after they were seen walking around dressed like characters from the hit British series Peaky Blinders. Their trench coats and flat caps — a look inspired by the show’s Shelby family — had made them local celebrities in Jibrail township.
But the Taliban called it “promoting foreign culture.”
Saif-ur-Islam Khyber, the ministry spokesman, said the group — all in their early 20s — was detained because they were imitating Western film actors.
“Praise be to Allah, we are Muslims and Afghans… We have protected this country from harmful cultures,”
Khyber said on social media.
He later told CBS News that the men were not technically arrested — only “summoned, advised and released.” According to him, their outfits had “no Afghan identity at all” and were inappropriate for a Muslim society.
The group — Asghar Husinai, Jalil Yaqoobi, Ashore Akbari and Daud Rasa — recently spoke on a local YouTube show, saying they simply loved the show’s fashion. They said locals would stop them in the street for photos.
“People liked our style,” Yaqoobi said. “Some comments were negative, but we focused on the appreciation.”
But to Taliban officials, the outfits were “contrary to Islamic values.”
The ministry even released a video featuring audio of one of the young men expressing regret and promising to stop posting “sinful activities” online.
A close friend of the group called the whole incident “ridiculous.”
“The country always feels like a prison,” the friend told CBS News. “They wore those outfits for fun… and the Taliban turned it into a nightmare.”
The detentions come as the Taliban continues its crackdown on anything it deems un-Islamic — from clothing to entertainment. Women have been hit the hardest, banned from almost all work and from formal education after age 11.
The Taliban returned to power in 2021, after the U.S. withdrawal under the agreement negotiated during President Trump’s first term.
This week, officials also announced the arrest of two street magicians in Balkh province, accusing them of witchcraft and claiming their activities were causing family disputes.