Islamic `police' put their long knives to 60 heads of hair

The Taliban religious police have launched a hair-trimming drive, using long knives to shear the heads of dozens of men in the Afghan capital.

The Taliban Islamic rulers say shaggy hair goes against the teachings of Islam.Standing amid a pile of hair at a checkpost in western Kabul, a religious police official said Tuesday that his unit had sheared the heads of more than 60 men.

"During prayers their hair could fall over their faces, and this is not Islamic," said Abdul Rahim Barkhwasey.

Members of his unit pulled men off buses and bicycles and forced them to submit to haircuts.