The Taliban-led Afghan government has banned video games, foreign films and music in the western city of Herat, branding them as un-Islamic, the media reported. The ban imposed by the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which came without warning, has forced more than 400 businesses in Herat to close.

It followed crackdowns on other forms of leisure and entertainment that clash with the Taliban’s extremist interpretation of Islamic Sharia law. Earlier this month, also in Herat, the Taliban closed restaurant gardens for women and families. In October 2022, the group shut cafes offering hookahs —the smoking of which is a popular pastime among Afghan men-across the country. Earlier in May, the Taliban banned men and women from eating together in Herat’s restaurants and shut down women-owned and women-run restaurants in the city.