The Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has announced that 550 morality officials from all 34 provinces of Afghanistan have been summoned to Kabul for a three-day educational and reform seminar.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the ministry said participants will receive training on religious outreach, guidance, preaching methods and what it described as reform-oriented activities.
According to the ministry, attendees will also be briefed on a newly approved law governing religious preachers, recently endorsed by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The seminar comes at a time when the ministry’s activities in Herat have attracted significant domestic and international attention.
Last week, actions by morality officials in the Jebrail area of Herat triggered public protests. Local sources and published reports indicated that Taliban forces used force to disperse demonstrators and detained a number of participants.
The events prompted solidarity demonstrations in more than 15 cities around the world.
Noor Ahmad Islamjar, the Taliban governor of Herat, has defended the measures, stating that compliance with the group’s prescribed dress code had declined in recent months and that the actions were taken to enforce government directives.
While the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue has denied reports that women were detained because of their clothing, local Taliban officials in Herat have publicly defended efforts to address what they describe as religious violations.
The Taliban have previously carried out arrests of women in Kabul and other Afghan cities over dress-code-related issues.
The decision to bring hundreds of morality officials to Kabul comes as the ministry continues to face criticism from human rights organizations, women’s rights advocates and international observers over its policies and enforcement practices.
The gathering is expected to serve as one of the largest nationwide training initiatives organized by the ministry since the Taliban returned to power, highlighting the group’s continued focus on expanding and standardizing the work of its morality enforcement structures across the country.
