Taliban Publicly Flog Nine People In Herat And Paktia

The Taliban said its courts publicly flogged nine people in western and eastern Afghanistan this week, continuing the use of corporal punishment under the group’s rule.

According to statements issued on Tuesday by the Taliban Supreme Court, a primary court in Herat province flogged eight people on Monday, January 5, on charges of producing, buying and selling alcoholic beverages.

In a separate case, a Taliban court in Ahmad Khel district of Paktia province publicly flogged one person on charges of currency counterfeiting.

The court said each of the accused received between 30 and 39 lashes, carried out in public and in the presence of Taliban officials and local residents.

The announcement follows a statement issued a day earlier in which the Taliban Supreme Court said lower courts had publicly flogged 16 people in the provinces of Parwan, Kabul, Kunar and Balkh.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have reinstated public corporal punishment, including floggings and executions, a practice that has drawn repeated condemnation from international human rights organisations and the United Nations.

The Taliban say the punishments are carried out in accordance with their interpretation of Islamic sharia law.