Taliban set musical instruments on fire

It is a bitterly cold day in Kabul. I have received a message from a guitarist. Angeeza is 21 years old and she was majoring in arts at Kabul University. Now, she is confined at home. When Afghanistan was a republic I interviewed her a few times. She was enthusiastic about learning guitar, now she is unhappy and highly disappointed.

I asked her about her situation, her family and her guitar. She told me that her father buried the guitar next to their home, because the Taliban are searching houses and if they found a guitar it would be a problem. She said that with the guitar she buried all her hopes.

This is a tragic end for Afghanistan's music. After their takeover, the Taliban have reintroduced a ban on music, as well as implemented other strict rules, especially against women. A video has gone viral on social media showing Talibans surrounded by a crowd of people insulting a singer and setting fire to his musical instruments. However, the Taliban Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has denied it ever happened.

A German media outlet, Dpa, reported that members of Taliban insulted and berated a singer in the Zazai area in the town of Aryub in the Paktia province, and set fire to his musical instrument. It appears that the agency's report is based on this video contents.

The video shows gunmen laughing and insulting a singer, and burning his musical instrument. Social media users believe the gunmen in video are Taliban fighters. They mock the singer and record videos with their smartphones. The singer's clothes have been torn and his hair has been cut.