Taliban beat up musicians

TALIBAN fighters beat musicians, shaved their heads and left them tied to trees overnight because they performed at an Afghan wedding, a village tribal chief said, a sign of the fighters’ growing influence.

While in power from 1996-2001, the Taliban banned music as un-Islamic.

“A party was going on when a group of Taliban grabbed five musicians and started beating them and smashing their musical instruments,” said Rahmatullah Khan, a head of Merke Khel village in the east of the country.

“The musicians were tied to trees last night and villagers found them in the morning...,” Khan said.