KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban has publicly flogged 180 people across 19 provinces of Afghanistan over the past three months, according to the group’s supreme court.
Speaking with local media outlet TOLOnews, Taliban Supreme Court spokesperson Abdul Rahim Rashid said those punished were convicted of offenses including “theft, adultery, running away from home, moral corruption, and other crimes.”
The floggings took place in provinces including Kunduz, Faryab, Kapisa, Uruzgan, Kabul, Ghazni, Takhar, Bamyan, Nimroz, Parwan, Khost, Herat, Baghlan, Nuristan, Paktia, Kandahar, Paktika, Nangarhar, and Samangan, Rashid said.
However, he did not specify how many of those punished were women.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has reintroduced public punishments, including floggings and executions, as part of its strict interpretation of Islamic law.
In his latest report, Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Afghanistan, documented at least 311 cases of corporal punishment, including 47 women, in the second half of 2024. He noted that this marks a 22% increase compared to the first half of the year.
The group has also carried out at least six executions for murder in recent years.
The practices have drawn widespread condemnation from the UN, human rights organizations, and activists, who have accused the group of violating fundamental rights and disregarding international norms.
The Taliban, however, defends its actions as the enforcement of Sharia law, accusing critics of misinterpreting or opposing Islam.
