Taliban pour 3,000 litres of liquor into Kabul canal in crackdown on alcohol sale | Video

Amid a crackdown on the sale of alcohol, Taliban officials on Sunday poured around 3,000 litres of liquor into a canal in Kabul. Taking to Twitter, the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) shared a video, in which the agents are seen pouring alcohol stored in barrels into the canal after they were seized during a raid in the capital. "Muslims have to seriously abstain from making and delivering alcohol," a Taliban intelligence official can be heard saying in the clip.

"A special operational unit of the CIA's Intelligence Unit arrested three liquor dealers in the Kart-e-Char area of Kabul with about 3,000 liters of alcohol, according to a series of credible intelligence reports. The seized liquor was destroyed and the liquor sellers were handed over to the judiciary," the tweet read. 

It is still not clear when the raid was carried out or exactly when the alcohol was destroyed. However, the statement issued by the GDI said that three dealers were arrested during the operation. It is to note that selling and consuming alcohol was banned even under the previous Western-backed regime, but the Taliban are stricter in their opposition. 

Taliban’s ‘new’ governing style 

Since the militant group violently seized power on August 15, the frequency of raids, including on drug addicts, has increased across the nation. The Taliban's Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has also issued several guidelines restricting women's rights. Back in September, the Taliban had banned shaving of beards and warned that violation of the decree would result in severe punishment. 

Ever since the Islamist group seized power, a series of discriminatory rules have been enacted by the Taliban across Afghanistan including women can be taught by only women, and that men and women must be separated in a mixed classroom, use separate entrances and exits, and must not blend. The Taliban have tried to portray itself as a more tolerant version of the hard-line Islamist group that last ruled Afghanistan two decades ago. However, it is now being learned that facial hair and clothing speaks volumes about the militant group’s purportedly new style of leadership. 

(Image: Twitter/AP)