Taliban Flog Five People Including Two Women in Balkh and Takhar

Photo: AFP

The Taliban Supreme Court has announced that on Thursday, July 24, a woman was flogged in public in Balkh province on charges of “illicit relations.”

According to the court’s statement, the woman had been sentenced to 39 lashes, and the punishment was carried out at the primary urban court in Balkh in the presence of judges, Taliban morality police officers, and security forces.

Meanwhile, the Taliban Supreme Court also reported on Wednesday, July 23, the execution of flogging sentences against four individuals, including one woman, in Qush Tepa district of Jawzjan province. According to the court, these individuals were each sentenced to 25 lashes for “illicit relations.”

This comes after the Taliban previously flogged a man and a woman in Takhar province. A few days ago, they also punished 11 individuals, including five women, in public in Sar-e Pol province on the same charge.

It is worth noting that since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have repeatedly carried out public punishments. Previously, at least ten people were executed by this group in front of hundreds of spectators. International human rights organizations consider such corporal punishments and public executions to be violations of human dignity and contrary to international law, and they have called for their immediate end.