KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The Taliban publicly flogged a man and a woman in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar and Khost provinces on Wednesday, marking the latest cases in a surge in corporal punishments by the group.
In separate statements, the Taliban Supreme Court announced the punishments, which were carried out in the presence of local authorities and members of the public.
In Nangarhar province, a man received 39 lashes and a one-year prison term in Sar Khrod district on charges of theft, the court said.
In Khost province, a woman was lashed 39 times and sentenced to two years in prison in Ali Shar district on charges of “running away from home,” the court added.
The cases come as Taliban authorities have intensified the use of corporal punishments in recent months, with hundreds of people flogged on various charges across Afghanistan.
The United Nations documented the flogging of more than 1,100 people, including 170 women, across Afghanistan in 2025 — nearly double the figure from 2024 and the highest since the Taliban returned to power in 2021
UN experts and international rights groups have described the punishments as degrading, inhuman, and cruel, and have called on the Taliban to halt them and comply with international law.
Taliban authorities defend the practice as consistent with their interpretation of Islamic law and essential for maintaining social order, rejecting foreign criticism as interference in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.
