KABUL – The Taliban’s Supreme Court announced that 16 people, including six women, were publicly flogged in Khost and Kapisa provinces on charges ranging from “moral corruption” to “illicit relationships.”
According to the court, three people were flogged on Saturday, September 27, in Nader Shah Kot district of Khost. Each received 30 lashes and was sentenced to three months in prison.
In a separate incident last Thursday, 13 people, including six women, were flogged in Kapisa on charges of “running away from home” and “illicit relationships.” Each was given 39 lashes, carried out in public following approval by the Taliban’s Chief Justice.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have revived corporal punishments, staging public floggings and executions despite mounting criticism. At least 10 people have been executed before crowds, and floggings are becoming increasingly routine.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reported that in the first three months of 2025 alone, 180 people, women and girls, were publicly flogged.
The Taliban defend these punishments as part of their rigid interpretation of Islamic law, dismissing foreign criticism as hostility toward Islam.
Rights groups and international organizations, however, denounce the practices as violations of international law and human dignity, urging an immediate end.
