KABUL: The Taliban government's morality ministry said it would not cooperate with the United Nations' mission in Afghanistan, calling it "an opposing side".

It came after the UN mission, known as UNAMA, warned that a new morality law - which says women must cover up completely and not raise their voices - would damage prospects for engagement with the international community.

The Taliban Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (PVPV) said that "due to its continued propaganda, the PVPV will not provide any support or cooperation with UNAMA, which will be considered as an opposing side".

"We want international organisations, the countries, and those individuals who criticised the mentioned law to respect the religious values of the Muslims and refrain from such criticisms and statements that insult Islamic values and sanctities," the ministry said in a statement on social media on Thursday.

The 35-article morality law was first published in the official gazette on July 31.

It imposes wide-ranging rules on men's clothing and attending prayers, as well as bans on keeping photos of living beings, homosexuality, animal fighting, playing music in public and non-Muslim holidays.

The prohibitions are already generally known, but the law's enactment could allow for increased control of the population.

The law sets out graduated punishments for non-compliance - from verbal warnings to threats, fines and detentions of varying lengths - enforced by the morality police under the PVPV.

Roza Otunbayeva, head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, has called the law a "distressing vision for Afghanistan's future, where moral inspectors have discretionary powers to threaten and detain anyone based on broad and sometimes vague lists of infractions".

Both the UN and European Union have warned that the law could damage prospects for engagement with the international community.

UNAMA is mandated by the UN Security Council to engage with the Taliban authorities, including the PVPV, with whom it has directly raised concerns over moral oversight policy and practices of enforcement.

The virtue and vice ministry implements an austere vision of Islam, which has increasingly dominated Afghanistan since the 2021 Taliban takeover.

Morality police squads are empowered to scold, arrest and deliver punishments to citizens violating edicts which have marginalised women, effectively banned music and outlawed other activity deemed un-Islamic.

The Taliban government has consistently dismissed international criticism of its policies, including condemnation of restrictions on women the UN has labelled "gender apartheid".

The law is "firmly rooted in Islamic teachings" that should be respected and understood, said chief government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement on Monday.

"To reject these laws without such understanding is, in our view, an expression of arrogance," he said, adding that for a Muslim to criticise the law "may even lead to the decline of their faith."

 - AFP