KABUL, Afghanistan — The Taliban religious police have jailed 22 hairdressers accused of propagating a Western-style haircut referred to among young men in Kabul as "the Titanic," residents said Thursday.
The hairstyle mimics that of actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and the cut is named for the movie in which he starred.
Religious police deployed by the Taliban's Ministry of Vice and Virtue — responsible for imposing the religious militia's brand of Islamic rule — say the hairstyle is offensive, according to Mohammed Arif, a barber in Kabul.
The hairstyle allows hair on the forehead, which the Taliban say could interfere with a person's ability to say his prayers. Muslim prayers are said while bowing toward Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Islam's holiest site.
It's not clear whether they will be punished or what the punishment might be. So far none of those arrested have been freed.
In the 95 percent of Afghanistan that they control, the Taliban have imposed a harsh brand of Islamic law that espouses public punishment for most offenses.
The Taliban also ban most forms of light entertainment and demand men grow beards and pray in the mosque.
Arif said men secretly trim their beards, an offense according to the Taliban.
"They come very early in the morning or very late at night," he said. "It is done very secretly and only for friends," he said.