KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban announced the public flogging of 11 people, including four women, in northern Afghanistan, highlighting the group’s escalating use of corporal punishment four years into its rule.
The Taliban Supreme Court said 10 people, four of them women, were flogged on charges of “illicit relationship and adultery” in Sar-e-Pol province on Wednesday. Each received between 21 and 39 lashes in public, along with prison terms ranging from eight months to four years.
In a separate case, the court said one person was flogged in Badakhshan province on Monday on charges of “sodomy.” The individual received 39 lashes and a two-year prison sentence.
The incidents highlight the Taliban’s growing use of corporal punishment since returning to power in 2021. In June alone, more than 80 people were publicly whipped across several provinces.
A recent United Nations report documented at least 234 public floggings nationwide between April and June, including 48 women and a child. The UN said the punishments are staged as public spectacles meant to deter others.
Human rights groups and the UN have condemned the Taliban’s actions as violations of international law and human dignity. The Taliban, however, defend the measures as enforcement of Islamic law and accuse critics of opposing Islam.
