Taliban courts have publicly flogged at least 11 people in Kabul after convicting them on drug-related charges, handing down sentences that included between 10 and 39 lashes along with prison terms ranging from seven months to three years.
In a statement issued on Monday, December 22, the Taliban Supreme Court said the Kabul Primary Court for the Prevention of Narcotics punished the individuals for selling and trafficking tablet K, methamphetamine, cannabis, and alcoholic beverages.
Data compiled by an afghan media organisation shows a sharp rise in such punishments, with at least 106 people, including 13 women, flogged across the country over the past 10 days alone.
The Taliban maintain that corporal punishment carried out by courts under their control represents the enforcement of Islamic sharia. However, international human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned public floggings and the mistreatment of detainees, criticism the group has consistently dismissed.
A recent United Nations report found that Taliban courts flogged at least 215 people, including 44 women and 171 men, in multiple provinces between August 1 and October 31, underscoring a sustained pattern of public corporal punishment since the group’s return to power.
