KABUL, AFGHANSITAN – Taliban authorities in Afghanistan’s eastern Logar province burned nearly 200 musical instruments on Tuesday after collecting them from across the province, describing the items as “sources of corruption” and contrary to Islamic law.
Ekramullah Aziz, spokesman for the Taliban Directorate for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Logar, said the instruments had been collected from various parts of the province over the past five months before being set alight.
He described playing musical instruments as an illegal act that “violates Islamic and Afghan values”. Aziz urged residents to refrain from performing or listening to music at weddings and other ceremonies.
The destruction forms part of the Taliban’s wider campaign against music and artistic expression since the group returned to power in August 2021. Under its strict interpretation of Islamic law, playing and listening to music are forbidden. Authorities have repeatedly confiscated, destroyed, or burned instruments across the country and barred music from television and radio broadcasts.
In May, Taliban officials in eastern Khost province burned more than 800 musical instruments, including harmoniums, daf drums, tablas and speakers, along with images of living beings. Similar burnings have occurred in other provinces, including Parwan and Laghman earlier this year, where hundreds of instruments were destroyed.
Taliban morality authorities have also raided private celebrations such as weddings, detaining musicians in several instances. Earlier in July, the group’s morality police detained at least 14 people in eastern Nangarhar province for playing music at a private gathering.
Hundreds of musicians and artists have fled Afghanistan in recent years, while those who remain have been forced to abandon their careers and face risks of intimidation, abuse and arrest.
The restrictions echo the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, when music, television, films and most forms of entertainment were banned. Following their return to power, many of those restrictions have been reintroduced, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where music is effectively prohibited nationwide.
