The Taliban’s “morality police” in Herat have detained four young Afghan men, known locally as the “Jibrail Shelbys,” for dressing in vintage 1920s attire inspired by the British crime drama Peaky Blinders.
The men – identified as Asghar Husaini, Jalil Yaqoobi, Ashore Akbari, and Daud Rasa – were accused of promoting “foreign and harmful culture” after videos of them strutting through the streets in flat caps, three-piece suits, and trench coats went viral on social media.
Saiful Islam Khyber, a spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, stated that while the regime has a specific traditional style, the men’s choice of clothing had “no Afghan identity.”
In a notable comparison, Khyber remarked that “even jeans would have been acceptable,” but the aesthetic of the British series – which the Taliban associates with gang culture and non-Islamic values – was a step too far.
