ISLAMABAD — Afghan Taliban authorities reported Wednesday that nine individuals, including at least two women, were publicly flogged after being convicted of crimes such as adultery and robbery.
Five of the punishments were carried out in a sports stadium in Kandahar, with local Taliban officials and spectators present. According to the Taliban’s Supreme Court, the convicts received 39 lashes each and prison sentences of two to seven years for offences including adultery, sodomy, and robbery. It was unclear if women were among the punished.
In separate incidents in the northern provinces of Takhar and Samangan, two men and two women were also flogged for adultery.
Since reclaiming power in 2021, the Taliban have subjected hundreds to public lashings across Afghanistan for so-called “moral crimes,” sparking international condemnation. Earlier this year, 63 individuals, including 14 women, were flogged in a northern stadium for offences such as adultery and homosexuality.
The Taliban defend these punishments under their interpretation of Sharia law, despite global outcry and calls from the United Nations to end such practices. Their treatment of women, including barring girls from education beyond the age of 12 and women from most jobs, has kept Afghanistan isolated from international recognition.
“We will not normalise relations without a significant shift in the Taliban’s human rights record,” said U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, reaffirming the global stance against the Taliban’s policies on women’s rights.
