“They aim to intimidate the people and let them know the Americans have left and we are in power now,” he said.

An official in the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture refused to comment on the apparent double standards.

The videos have emerged as the government has tightened its iron grip on music and dance in recent weeks, declaring it a vehicle for “moral corruption” that must be purged from society.

The draconian policies have even reached into personal vehicles, where music is not allowed to be played on the radio.

Checkpoints

Taliban checkpoints have sprung up across urban centres and rural roads. Stern-faced fighters, rifles at the ready, force vehicles to stop if the passengers are listening to music.

“They stop me almost daily,” said Reshad, a resident of northern Maymana.

“They threaten me, saying I shouldn’t listen to music and should listen to the Quran instead. Last time, they took me to a police station for listening to an Iranian song in my car.

“They slapped me in the face and said they will hold my car for three weeks,” he claimed.

Afghan weddings, once vibrant with music and dance, have also been muted.

The traditional sounds of the dhol drum and the harmonium, which for centuries have celebrated new unions, are now outlawed.