KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Taliban authorities publicly flogged 24 individuals, including three women, in Afghanistan’s Ghor and Kabul provinces over the past two days on charges of illicit relationships and drug-related offenses, the group’s supreme court announced.
In a statement, the court said that in Ghor province, three men and three women convicted of illicit relationships each received 39 lashes in a public setting, following approval by the Taliban’s highest judiciary.
Separately, 18 people were flogged in Kabul for crimes including the sale and trafficking of narcotic tablets, alcoholic beverages, and hashish. Each received up to 39 lashes along with prison terms of up to three years, according to the court.
The punishments were carried out in public spaces in the presence of local authorities and onlookers, the court added.
The Taliban have routinely imposed corporal punishments in public since regaining power in August 2021, despite international condemnation.
A group of UN experts recently condemned the practice, saying that the Taliban are increasingly using public floggings to instill fear, in violation of international human rights law.
According to the UN, more than 1,100 people, including 170 women, were publicly flogged across Afghanistan in 2025, nearly double the figure from 2024 and the highest since the Taliban’s return to power.
UN bodies and rights groups describe the punishments as degrading, inhuman, and cruel, and have repeatedly called on the Taliban to end them and adhere to international law.
The Taliban, however, defend the practice, arguing it aligns with their interpretation of Islamic law and is necessary to maintain order. The regime has also rejected international criticism, insisting that the global community should not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
