The Taliban pledged, after assuming power, not to return to harsh practices
The Taliban, the ruler of Afghanistan, announced that it had flogged 12 people, including three women, on a soccer field, in front of thousands of witnesses.
According to a movement official, those involved are guilty of “moral offences”, including adultery, theft and sodomy.
This is believed to be the second public flogging of the movement in a month.
This may be an indication of a return to the extremist practices for which the Taliban were known in the 1990s.
Omar Mansour Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman in the Logar region, where the flogging took place, in eastern Afghanistan, said the three women were released after carrying out their punishment, and some men were detained, without specifying the their number.
Each of the men and women received between 21 and 39 lashes. The spokesman explained that the maximum number of lashes a human receives is 39 lashes.
It was reported that 19 people were subjected to the same punishment last week in Takhar province in northern Afghanistan.
The flogging took place in Logar a week after Taliban leader Hebatullah Akhundzada ordered judges to carry out penalties for some offences, according to the movement’s harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
The Taliban leader’s recent order indicates that the movement has returned to its strict rights and movement practices, while its decisions were more moderate when it took power last year.
The Taliban were convicted of carrying out public punishments, including floggings and executions, in Kabul’s National Stadium during their rule from 1996 to 2001.
