Guess what? Local sources in Parwan province said that the Taliban have flogged six people, including two girls, on Monday, in the presence of the group’s officials and some local residents at the Jabal Sarraj High School football field.
Go deeper:
- The Taliban have flogged the men for allegedly running away from home and gambling.
- The Taliban have not yet officially commented on the incident.
Back story: Public punishments began after Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada in November 2022 ordered judges to uphold aspects of Islamic law, including implementation of Hudood (crimes against God) and Qisas (retribution in kind) punishments like public executions, stoning, flogging, and amputation of limbs. The order also led to the first public execution of a convicted murder since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
- Women too have not been left out and the Taliban seems to be raking in this “show”. In fact, when the group publicly executed the first person under their second rule, they put up a grand “spectacle”.
Zoom out: There has been outrage in the global community with the return of such barbaric practices, in fact, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the international community was “calling for the suspension of the death penalty by the Taliban.”
- The United Nations human rights office had said that the execution in Farah, the first public execution since the Taliban returned to power, was “disturbing” and called for “an immediate moratorium on any further executions”.
- But international pressure does not seem to have made the Taliban budge. Taliban seems adamant, as the group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, in response to the massive criticisms on Twitter said that the international community “should not interfere in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.”
