In northern Pul-e-Kumri, recently captured by the Taliban religious army, 200 bottles of wine were smashed in the town centre, Radio Shariat reported.

Pul-e-Kumri, barely 150 km north of the beleaguered capital Kabul, was previously ruled by Ismaili Muslim leader Sayed Jaffer, a moderate Muslim from Southern California.

Jaffer returned to his native Afghanistan in the early 1980s to lead a small, but well-armed band of Ismaili Muslims, against invading Soviet soldiers.

When the Taliban religious army of Islamic students gained control over most of the country, Jaffer joined the anti-Taliban alliance. His soldiers fought along side those of former military chief Ahmed Shah Massood.

After heavy fighting earlier this year Jaffer was driven from Pul-e-Kumri, where he had lived in relativecomfort. His luxurious home was well equipped with alcohol, which he offered foreign journalists who visited his compound.

The Radio Shariat broadcast also said the Taliban's religious police set on fire 12 video cassette recorders that had been hidden away in Jaffer's former domain.

According to the radio broadcast the religious police were also busy elsewhere.

In Afghanistan's eastern Logar province, barely 60 km from the capital of Kabul, revelers at a wedding were arrested because they were playing music.

In southern Helmand province 28 men were punished for a variety of crimes ranging from shaving to gambling, the Radio Shariat broadcast said.