The Taliban’s Morality Ministry fired more than 280 members of the security forces last year for not growing beards, and more than 13,000 people have been arrested in Afghanistan for “immoral acts,” officials said Tuesday.

The Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and the Promotion of Virtue said in its annual report that about half of those arrested were released after 24 hours. It did not provide information on the nature of the alleged crimes or the gender of those arrested.

Mohibullah Mokhlis, the ministry’s director of planning and legislation, told a news conference that officials destroyed 21,328 musical instruments last year and prevented thousands of computer operators from selling “immoral and unethical” films in markets. He said 281 members of the security forces were identified and fired for not having beards, in line with their interpretation of Islamic law.

The Ministry of Morality, which took over the premises of the dissolved Ministry of Women in Kabul after the Taliban seized power in 2021, has been criticized by human rights organizations and the United Nations for restricting women’s rights and hindering freedom of expression.

The UN mission in Afghanistan has reported cases in which officials from the Ministry of Morals stopped women and sometimes detained them for several hours because they did not conform to their interpretation of Islamic dress.

The Taliban have called the arrests “baseless” and say the rules reflect their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs. The Morals Ministry did not provide figures on monitoring women’s clothing or their travel without a male guardian, which authorities have also banned over long distances.

It said a new plan was being worked on to ensure that Islamic dress codes were observed. The plan would be overseen by the supreme spiritual leader, who is based in the southern city of Kandahar. “Based on the supreme leader’s instructions, the draft for observing the hijab (Islamic dress) for women was prepared and approved,” Mokhlis said.

The Ministry of Morals had previously stated that women must cover their faces or wear a full-covering burka. Enforcing this requirement would be an “encouragement” and would not affect the women themselves, but male family members.

Most Afghan women in the conservative country covered their hair in public even before the Taliban took power, but some, especially in Kabul, did not cover their faces or wear burqas. Mokhlis said they had prevented just over 200 cases of trafficking and over 2,600 cases of violence against women.