KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban publicly flogged two individuals in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province on Thursday after convicting them of “sodomy,” the group’s supreme court announced.
The court said in a statement that each man received 25 lashes and was sentenced to one year in prison. The punishment was carried out in the Gurziwan district in public and in the presence of local authorities.
The incident comes amid a recent intensification of corporal punishments by Taliban authorities across multiple provinces. Hundreds of people have been flogged in recent weeks on charges including moral offenses, theft, and other violations, according to Taliban court statements.
The punishments are often carried out in public spaces such as sports stadiums or district centers, with residents summoned to attend. Taliban officials say public enforcement is intended to deter crime and uphold social order.
Human rights organizations and United Nations experts have repeatedly condemned the practice, describing public floggings and similar penalties as cruel, inhuman, and degrading. They say such punishments violate international human rights standards to which Afghanistan is bound.
Taliban authorities defend the measures as consistent with their interpretation of Islamic law and necessary to maintain social order, despite widespread domestic and international criticism.
