The Taliban’s morality police have detained a man in Balkh province on charges of “insulting sacred beliefs” and making controversial comments about Islamic history, the group’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said.

In a statement on 11 August, ministry spokespersons said the man, identified as Jamshid, a resident of Balkh, was tracked down and detained by morality police.

Obaidullah Haqqani, head of the ministry’s directorate in Balkh, alleged that the suspect had made “contradictory remarks on social media about the existence of God and the Battle of Uhud, which hurt people’s religious sentiments.”

The case has been referred to Taliban courts for “Sharia-based” proceedings, according to the ministry.

The Taliban have previously detained multiple people on similar charges. In the most recent case, a teacher in Paktika province was arrested for allegedly “insulting the Prophet of Islam” and later sentenced to death by a Taliban court.