No more selfies, Taliban leaders tell foot soldiers

Taliban leaders warned younger foot soldiers earlier this week against having too much fun and tarnishing the group’s reputation, including by taking selfies.

Defence Minister of the Taliban Leadership, Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob, called out soldiers for overstepping the group’s code, including driving too fast and not sticking to the dress code, for example, by wearing high-top trainers. 

In his speech, reported by The Wall Street Journal, Yaqoob told Taliban members to "stick to the tasks you have been assigned" because otherwise "you are damaging our status, which has been created with the blood of our martyrs."

"This is the behaviour of the warlords and gangsters of the puppet regime," Yaqoob added, referencing the previous Afghan government which the Taliban overtook on 15 August. 

Foot soldiers were also warned not to take so many selfies, particularly when they were with leaders of the movement, as they could compromise the safety and security of those by sharing the location. 

Over the past few weeks, Taliban members have been spotted having fun on funfair rides, playing with animals at Kabul zoo and riding in swan boats in a lake. 

Since the Taliban have formed a new government, they have reportedly shut down the former government's ministry of women's affairs and replaced it with one that earned notoriety during its first stint in power for enforcing religious doctrine.

While the country's new rulers have not issued a formal policy outright banning women from working, directives by individual officials have amounted to their exclusion from the workplace.