31 December 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged more than 1,000 people across Afghanistan in 2025, including at least 150 women, according to data released by their Supreme Court, marking a sharp rise in corporal punishment during the year.
Figures compiled from official Taliban statements show that more than 1,030 people were flogged in public during 2025 for offences including running away from home, theft and acts the Taliban describe as contrary to Islamic law. Kabul recorded the highest number of cases.
The data indicate a significant increase compared with previous years, with the number of public floggings in 2025 roughly doubling earlier annual totals.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have publicly flogged at least 1,848 people nationwide, including about 250 women, according to cumulative figures.
Corporal punishment has become a routine feature of the Taliban’s justice system, with all provinces reporting cases over the past year.
In addition to floggings, the Taliban carried out at least three public executions in 2025 in the provinces of Khost, Badghis and Paktia, drawing large crowds. In the most recent case in Khost, a man convicted of murder was executed before tens of thousands of spectators, with the sentence carried out by a 13-year-old, triggering widespread criticism.
Overall, data show that over the past four years the Taliban have issued at least 178 death sentences under the principle of retribution, known as qisas, 37 stoning sentences and four punishments involving the collapse of walls onto convicts.
At least 12 death sentences have been carried out so far.
Human rights groups say the punishments violate international law and basic human rights standards.
“The Taliban use extremist interpretations of religion to justify repression and cruelty,” said Sima Noori, a human rights activist. “Public flogging without fair trials and in the absence of a constitution is a clear violation of human rights.”
Residents interviewed in Kabul said the punishments had created a climate of fear.
“The Taliban have turned Afghanistan into a prison,” said one resident. “Men and women are flogged in front of crowds, stripping them of dignity.”
International organisations including the United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly condemned corporal punishment in Afghanistan and called for it to stop.
Earlier this year, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for the Taliban’s leader and the head of its Supreme Court on charges including crimes against humanity and gender-based persecution.
The Taliban have rejected international criticism and say they are enforcing what they describe as Islamic law.

24 December 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged nine people, including four women, in Bamyan and Kapisa provinces on charges of “illicit relationships” and “adultery,” the group’s supreme court announced.
In Bamyan province on Sunday, four individuals, including two women, were publicly lashed after being convicted of “illicit relationships” and “adultery.” Each received up to 39 lashes and were sentenced to prison terms of up to two years.
In Kapisa province, five individuals, including two women, were publicly lashed on Wednesday in Hesa Awal Kohistan district. The court said the individuals were convicted of “illicit relationships” and each received 39 lashes. Local authorities and members of the public witnessed the punishments, according to the court.
These floggings are part of a wider pattern of public corporal punishment carried out by the Taliban since they returned to power in 2021. Earlier this week, at least 22 other individuals were publicly flogged in three other provinces on various charges, reflecting an intensification of the practice.
A recent UN report documented at least 215 cases of public corporal punishment in Afghanistan between August 1 and October 31, including 42 women, two girls, and one boy.
The report said those punished were accused of offenses ranging from adultery, fleeing their homes, and same-sex relations to alcohol consumption and gambling.

23 December 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged a man and a woman in eastern Nangarhar province on December 10, 2025 after they were convicted of engaging in an “illicit relationship,” the group’s supreme court announced.
In a statement, the court said the punishment was carried out in Shirzad district following approval from the Taliban’s highest judicial authority.
Each individual received 30 lashes in the presence of local officials and members of the public.

19 November 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged a man and a woman in Kabul and Balkh provinces in recent days, underscoring the persistence of corporal punishment despite widespread international criticism.
According to a statement from the Taliban Supreme Court, a woman convicted of an “illicit relationship” was publicly lashed 39 times in northern Balkh province on November 14.
Local authorities and residents witnessed the punishment.
In a separate announcement, the court said a man convicted of “adultery” was publicly lashed 35 times in Kabul on November 13, and sentenced to three years in prison.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban has made public corporal punishment a core feature of its judicial system.

12 November 2025 :

The Taliban’s Supreme Court on November 12, 2025 confirmed that 15 people, including a woman, were publicly flogged in two separate provinces of Afghanistan — Nangarhar and Ghor — in recent days.
According to an official statement issued by the court, 14 individuals, among them one woman, were punished in public on November 11–12, 2025 in the Lalpura district of Nangarhar.
The statement said that the punishments were carried out following verdicts by the district and city courts.
Those flogged were accused of “running away from home,” “selling alcohol,” “same-sex relations,” and “theft.” Each of them reportedly received between 30 and 39 lashes in front of local residents.
In a separate incident, another person was publicly flogged in the Saghar district of Ghor province on charges of “moral corruption,” receiving 39 lashes, according to another statement from the Taliban court.

06 November 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged at least 242 people across Afghanistan between July and September this year, including 48 women, one boy, and two girls, according to a new report by the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
The report, released on October 28, highlighted one of the largest incidents of public flogging, which occurred on August 13 in Sar-e-Pol province in northern Afghanistan. Twenty-one people were publicly flogged, receiving between 21 and 39 lashes each, and were also sentenced to prison terms.
The individuals were punished for a range of alleged offenses, including fleeing their homes, having telephone conversations with members of the opposite sex, theft, adultery, and murder, according to the report.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have systematically reinstated public punishments, including floggings and executions, enforcing a strict interpretation of Sharia law. The group has carried out at least 11 public executions for murder across Afghanistan over the past four years.
These practices have drawn criticism from the UN, human rights organizations, and activists, who argue that such punishments violate international human rights standards and basic human dignity.
International rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have urged the Taliban to immediately halt the “criminal practice” of public flogging and all other forms of corporal punishment. They also criticized the Taliban’s justice system and practices, arguing that it lacks fair trials and that accused individuals have no access to legal representation.
The Taliban, however, asserts that it enforces Sharia law in Afghanistan, accusing other countries and organizations of either lacking sufficient understanding or having biases against Islam.

25 September 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged 17 people in Kabul on drug-related charges on September 22, 2025, the group’s supreme court announced, as corporal punishment continues across Afghanistan.
In a statement, the court said the individuals were convicted of selling and trafficking narcotic tablets, alcoholic drinks and hashish. Each received between 15 and 35 lashes, along with prison terms of up to six months. The ruling was approved by the supreme court before implementation.
The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded at least 234 public floggings between April and June this year, including 48 women and one child. In June alone, more than 80 people were whipped in multiple provinces, UNAMA said.

17 September 2025 :

The Taliban has publicly flogged 22 people, including a woman, in four provinces of Afghanistan over the past three days, the group’s supreme court announced on September 16, 2025.
In separate statements, the court said the punishments were carried out in Kabul, Khost, Farah, and Baghlan provinces in the presence of local officials and the public, after approval from the group’s highest judicial authority.
In Kabul, ten people were publicly flogged on September 15 after being convicted of selling and trafficking alcoholic beverages, narcotic tablets, and hashish. The sentences included up to 39 lashes and prison terms of up to two years.
In Khost province, six people were flogged on September 14 in Spera district on charges of “moral corruption” and “sodomy.” Each was given 39 lashes and sentenced to five years in prison.
In Farah province, five people, including a woman, were flogged on September 13 in Bala Buluk district on charges of “illicit relationship” and “fighting.” They received between 20 and 39 lashes.
In Baghlan province, one person was flogged on September 14 in Khost district on charges of “moral corruption,” receiving 39 lashes and a 21-month prison term.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has reinstated corporal and capital punishments as part of its justice system. Hundreds of people, including women and members of the LGBT+ community, have been subjected to these measures.
The UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded at least 234 public floggings between April and June this year, including 48 women and one child. In June alone, more than 80 people were whipped in public across several provinces.

01 September 2025 :

The Taliban on August 30, 2025 publicly flogged six people in the Afghan capital after convicting them of drug‑related offenses, the group’s Supreme Court said.
The six were accused of selling Tablet K, Zeegap, opium, alcohol and hashish. They were sentenced to between 10 and 30 lashes each, along with prison terms ranging from seven months to two years.
The punishments were carried out in front of onlookers, continuing a pattern of public corporal punishment the Taliban have reinstated since returning to power in 2021.
August 30 floggings are part of a growing wave of public punishments.
At least 53 people, including several women, have been flogged in public across multiple provinces this week alone.
Over the past four years, Taliban courts have frequently staged floggings in stadiums, mosque courtyards and public squares, often announcing them through the Supreme Court. In some weeks, dozens of people accused of crimes ranging from theft to so‑called moral offenses have been flogged in front of large crowds, underscoring the group’s growing reliance on public corporal punishment as a tool of control.
The Taliban maintain that public floggings and executions are in line with their interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and accuse critics of opposing Islamic principles.

19 July 2025 :

A Taliban court in Afghanistan’s Paktika province has sentenced a man to death on charges of blasphemy, according to a spokesperson for the group.
Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, announced on July 17, 2025 that a man identified as Abdul Alim Khamoosh, a resident of Janikhel district, was arrested and sentenced by a primary court for allegedly insulting the Prophet of Islam and Islamic sanctities.
Khyber stated that the sentence followed an investigation by the court, which determined that the accused had committed a serious offence under the group’s interpretation of Islamic law.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the spokesperson referred to the offence as a “major sin,” stating that insulting religious values, weakening the spiritual unity of the Islamic community, and violating Sharia boundaries are considered severe crimes by the Taliban.
The group has not released further details regarding the judicial process, evidence presented, or whether the defendant had access to legal representation. The verdict has raised renewed concerns among rights groups over the use of capital punishment and the lack of transparency in the Taliban's legal system.

15 July 2025 :

The Taliban flogged two individuals, including a woman, in Kabul and Ghazni provinces earlier this week, as the group continues carrying out corporal punishment despite widespread global condemnation, KabulNow reported on July 11, 2025.
According to the Taliban Supreme Court, a woman in Kabul was sentenced to 39 lashes and one year in prison on July 7 for “running away from home and adultery.”
In a separate statement, the court said another person, whose gender was not specified, was flogged 30 times in Jaghori district of Ghazni province on July 8 for “adultery.” That individual also received a one-year prison sentence.
The incidents are part of a growing number of public floggings under Taliban rule. In June, more than 80 people, including several women, were publicly whipped across the country.
The Taliban has also resumed capital punishment since returning to power in 2021. At least 10 men convicted of murder have been publicly executed.
The United Nations and rights groups have condemned these punishments as cruel and in violation of international law, urging the Taliban to end such practices.

19 June 2025 :

Taliban have publicly flogged three people, including a woman, in separate incidents in northern and central Afghanistan, the group’s Supreme Court announced on June 18, 2025.
In a statement posted on social media, the court said a man and a woman were flogged in Takhar province’s Dasht-e-Qala district on June 18, after being convicted of adultery. Each received 39 lashes. The punishment was carried out at the district police headquarters following approval by the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
In a separate case, the court said a man was flogged in Chak district of Maidan Wardak province the same day. He was convicted of sodomy, received 30 lashes in public, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
These cases add to a growing number of public punishments carried out by the Taliban since their return to power in 2021. In May alone, Taliban courts announced the flogging of at least 117 people, including many women.
The United Nations and human rights groups have condemned the practice, calling it a violation of international law and human dignity. They have also raised concerns over the lack of fair trials and legal representation in Taliban courts.
The Taliban says it is enforcing Islamic law and rejects criticism, accusing critics of either misrepresenting Islam or harboring anti-Islamic bias.

07 May 2025 :

The Taliban authorities have publicly flogged a woman and three men in separate incidents in northern and southeastern Afghanistan, according to statements issued on May 4, 2025 by the group’s Supreme Court.
On May 4, a woman and a man were lashed in front of a crowd in Qala-e-Zal district of Kunduz province. The court said both were found guilty of “illicit relations” and sentenced to 30 lashes each, in addition to one year in prison.
In a separate incident the day before, two men were publicly flogged in Zurmat district of Paktia province after being convicted of “sodomy.” Each was given 33 lashes and also sentenced to one year in prison.
This marks the latest in a series of escalating corporal punishments, including public floggings, executions, and stonings.
Since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban have reinstated strict interpretations of Sharia law, similar to their rule in the late 1990s.
Under this regime, six public executions have already been carried out for murder, and hundreds of individuals—particularly women and LGBTQ+ community members—have been subjected to public floggings for what the Taliban label as “moral corruption.”
Reports suggest an uptick in such punishments in recent months, with public floggings becoming a daily occurrence.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 111 cases of corporal punishment between June and September of last year, including 15 women and one girl.

15 April 2025 :

The Taliban have publicly flogged 13 people, including five women, in the provinces of Khost and Jawzjan on charges ranging from “illicit relations” and “fleeing their home” to blasphemy, bribery, and false reporting, the group’s Supreme Court said in a statement on April 12, 2025.
The court claimed that those punished in Khost received between 35 and 39 lashes and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to five years. The floggings, the statement said, were conducted in public following the approval of the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
Witnesses to the punishments reportedly included relatives of the accused women, Taliban judicial officials, and local residents.
The floggings are part of a broader surge in corporal punishments and public executions across Afghanistan.
On April 11, the Taliban carried out executions of four men in the provinces of Farah, Nimroz, and Badghis on murder charges.
Data released by the Taliban’s Supreme Court show that between March 2024 and March 2025, at least 456 people — including 60 women — were flogged in 26 provinces, including Kabul and Kandahar.
During recent Eid meetings with Taliban officials, the group’s reclusive leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, reportedly called for intensified use of corporal punishments, signaling continued defiance of international calls to respect human rights.

03 March 2025 :

The Taliban has publicly flogged 20 people, including five women, on various charges in eastern Khost and Parwan provinces, the group’s Supreme Court announced on February 24, 2025.
In Khost province, 18 individuals—four of them women—were lashed on February 23, accused of “sodomy” and “illicit relationships,” according to a court statement.
Each received 39 lashes in front of local authorities and the public and was sentenced to prison terms ranging from one to seven years.
In a separate case in Parwan province, a man and a woman were publicly flogged for “adultery” on the same day.
Both received 39 lashes and were sentenced to six years in prison, the court said.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has made corporal punishment a central element of its justice system, publicly lashing dozens of individuals—including women and LGBTQ+ people—across Afghanistan.
The group has escalated its use of public floggings in recent months. In February alone, at least 60 people, including 12 women, have been publicly whipped.
The Taliban has also carried out at least six public executions in recent years.

10 February 2025 :

Taliban publicly flogged seven people in Kunduz, Uruzgan and Ghazni provinces on charges of extramarital relations and assault, according to Taliban supreme court statements on February 10, 2025.
One statement said that the Taliban’s primary court in Qala-e-Zal district, Kunduz sentenced two individuals convicted of assault to 15 lashes and eight months in prison. The ruling was carried out on February 10, the statement said.
In a separate statement, the Taliban stated that a primary court in Khas district, Uruzgan, had convicted three individuals of murder, sodomy, and unlawful relationships.
According to the statement, one individual was sentenced to one year in prison and 39 lashes. A second person received 18 months in prison and 30 lashes. A third defendant was sentenced to six months in prison and 39 lashes.
Additionally, two other individuals in Ghazni province were flogged for extramarital relations and sentenced to three years and six months in prison, along with 39 lashes.
An Amu TV review of Taliban judicial records indicates that in less than three weeks, at least 44 people, including six women, have been publicly flogged across various provinces.
During the same period, the Taliban’s morality police, known as Amr bil Maruf, have arrested 18 individuals.
Some Afghans have condemned these punishments as inhumane, while human rights organizations and the international community continue to voice concern over the Taliban’s use of public corporal punishment.

23 January 2025 :

The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that 10 individuals, including one woman, were publicly whipped in Khost province on January 22, 2025, charged with “adultery,” “sodomy,” “illicit relations,” and “running away from home.”
In a statement, the court said the punishments were carried out based on the verdicts of the primary court in Sabari district, Khost.
The statement added that six of the individuals were each whipped 39 times and sentenced to two years in prison. Three others received between 30 and 39 lashes each and were sentenced to three years in prison. One person was whipped 39 times and sentenced to one year in prison.
This marks the latest in a series of escalating corporal punishments, including public floggings, executions, and stonings.
Since regaining power in August 2021, the Taliban have reinstated strict interpretations of Sharia law, similar to their rule in the late 1990s. Under this regime, six public executions have already been carried out for murder, and hundreds of individuals—particularly women and LGBTQ+ community members—have been subjected to public floggings for what the Taliban label as “moral corruption.”
Reports suggest an uptick in such punishments in recent months, with public floggings becoming a daily occurrence. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) documented 111 cases of corporal punishment between June and September of last year, including 15 women and one girl.
Human rights organizations and the UN have strongly condemned these practices, highlighting the absence of due process in the Taliban’s judicial system. Defendants frequently lack access to legal representation and fair trials.

30 December 2025 :

A Taliban court in Paktika province has overturned the death sentence against Abdul Alim Khamosh, a teacher who had been detained on charges of “insulting the prophet of islam,” local sources told Afghanistan International on December 28, 2025.
The court ruled that the allegations against him were unfounded, the sources said.
Relatives confirmed that Khamosh has returned from the provincial centre of Paktika to Jani Khel district and has been reunited with his family.
Khamosh was previously arrested in Jani Khel after remarks he made in class about the importance of modern education, according to local sources. They said he was detained by Taliban morality enforcers and later sentenced to death.
Sources said Khamosh told his students during a lesson that modern sciences were more important than religious instruction, comments that led to his arrest and imprisonment.
Earlier, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said Khamosh had been detained following complaints by religious scholars and morality enforcers in Jani Khel district and, after what the ministry described as a confession, was referred to court.
At the time, the spokesperson said a primary court in Paktika sentenced Khamosh to death on charges of “insulting the Prophet of Islam and Islamic sanctities.”
Khamosh’s relatives rejected those claims, saying he neither insulted the Prophet nor Islamic sanctities and was condemned solely for stressing the value of modern sciences.

09 December 2025 :

Taliban police in the eastern province of Khost said on December 3, 2025 that two sons of a man executed in a public “qisas” killing on December 2 have also been sentenced to death, though the punishments have been postponed because the head of the victims’ family is outside the country.
Mostaghfar Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban’s police command in Khost, said on X that the two sons of Mangal — who was executed on December 2 in Khost’s central stadium — were wanted in connection with the same case, the killing of 13 members of a family in the districts of Ali Shir and Terezio.
Gurbaz said the sentences were delayed because the victims’ relatives, who he said are living outside Afghanistan, must be present to approve or reject the enforcement of retribution under Taliban interpretations of Islamic law.

10 June 2025 :

The Taliban’s Supreme Court has announced that 14 individuals, including one woman, were publicly flogged across four provinces of Afghanistan.
According to a statement released on June, 2025, the punishments were carried out in Kabul (9 individuals), Parwan (2), Khost (2), and Paktika (1).
In Kabul, the nine men were sentenced to six to seven months in prison and 10 to 20 lashes each for allegedly trafficking and selling hashish and narcotic tablets, including K and Zikap.
In Parwan, a man and a woman were convicted of “running away from home.” Each received four years in prison and 35 lashes.
In Khost, two individuals were sentenced to two years in prison and 35 to 39 lashes for drug-related offenses.
In Paktika, a man was sentenced to two years in prison and received 36 lashes for theft.

23 October 2025 :

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has condemned the Taliban’s latest public execution, calling for an immediate end to the use of the death penalty, which he described as “cruel, inhuman, and degrading.”
In a statement on October 22, 2025, Mr. Bennett said the Taliban deliberately uses public executions and other “cruel punishments” as a tool to control the population and instill fear.
“The application of the death penalty anywhere is deeply troubling,” Bennett said. “In the context of Afghanistan, where the Taliban-controlled justice system lacks any semblance of independence or due process, it is especially alarming.”
Bennett urged the Taliban authorities to immediately halt all executions and establish a moratorium on the death penalty, calling it a crucial first step toward full abolition.
The latest execution, carried out on October 16 in a sports stadium in Badghis province, involved a man convicted of murder. The Taliban’s supreme court said the man had shot another man and a woman, and the execution was approved by Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
This was the eleventh public execution carried out by the Taliban since they returned to power in 2021. Previous executions have taken place in Farah, Ghazni, Laghman, Jowzjan, Badghis, and Nimruz provinces, often in front of hundreds of spectators.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and multiple rights groups have also condemned the Taliban’s use of the death penalty, stressing that public executions breach international law and violate the fundamental right to life.
“Public executions breach international law, and the death penalty more generally is incompatible with the fundamental right to life,” Türk said, urging the Taliban to take concrete steps toward abolishing capital punishment.
Since their return to power, the Taliban have also publicly flogged hundreds of people, including women and LGBTQ+ individuals, on a range of charges. Despite repeated calls from the UN, international rights groups, and activists, the Taliban continues these practices, citing the enforcement of Sharia law across Afghanistan.
Rights groups have urged the international community to intensify pressure on the Taliban to end what they describe as “blatant” human rights violations and to ensure international safeguards are respected in Afghanistan.

03 December 2025 :

A public execution carried out by the Taliban in the eastern province of Khost on December 2, 2025 was conducted by a 13-year-old boy, local sources told Amu, adding that the man executed had been accused of killing 13 members of the child’s family.
According to the sources, Taliban officials first asked the boy whether he wished to pardon the convicted man, identified as Mangal, son of Talah Khan. When the boy refused, he was handed a weapon and carried out the execution by firing at the condemned man in Khost’s central stadium.
The Taliban police command spokesman said about 80,000 people, including their senior local authorities and security personnel, gathered in the stadium to witness the execution.
Taliban officials said Mangal murdered the family in the districts of Ali Shir and Terezio about 10 months ago.
The Taliban supreme court said Mangal was accused of killing a Khost resident named Abdul Rahman with a Kalashnikov rifle.
The court said the case had been reviewed by primary, appeals and high courts before the execution order was approved by the Taliban’s leader.
Mangal was originally from Sanjak village in Paktia’s Syed Karam district but had been living in the Khost districts of Ali Shir and Terezio.
Taliban have resumed corporal punishments and public executions since returning to power in August 2021. Khost’s incident marks at least the 11th confirmed public execution since then, based on figures from the Taliban’s Supreme Court.

18 October 2025 :

The Taliban on October 16, 2025 publicly executed a man convicted of murder in northwestern Afghanistan, marking the 11th such execution since the group’s return to power in 2021, according to the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
In a statement, the court said the man, identified as Ismail, was convicted of fatally shooting a man and a woman, Dost Mohammad and Gulbarga, in Jawand district of Badghis province.
The statement added that the verdict was upheld by three Taliban-run courts and reviewed by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, before final approval.
The court said that the families of the victims were offered the opportunity to forgive the perpetrator in exchange for reconciliation, but after they refused, the order for qisas, or retributive justice, was carried out.
The execution took place on October 16, at the Badghis provincial stadium in front of a crowd of local residents, the statement said.
According to the Taliban, the event was conducted in line with Islamic law. However, international rights groups and the United Nations have repeatedly condemned public executions and other corporal punishments under the Taliban as violations of international human rights standards.
The United Nations has called on the Taliban to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty, warning that such punishments are inconsistent with Afghanistan’s obligations under international law.
The Taliban maintain that such measures are legitimate under their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and accuse critics of misrepresenting religious principles.
October 16 execution was the second carried out publicly in Badghis since the Taliban seized power. Previous executions have taken place in the provinces of Farah, Ghazni, Laghman, Jawzjan, Badghis, and Nimroz, often witnessed by large crowds under the supervision of local Taliban officials.
Public executions, floggings, and amputations have re-emerged across Afghanistan over the past four years, reflecting the Taliban’s return to the harsh justice practices that characterized their rule in the 1990s, despite widespread international condemnation.

09 September 2025 :

Sources have confirmed that Taliban members in western Afghanistan shot a man dead and hanged his body in public on August 22, 2025.
Witnesses told Amu that the man was hanged from an old tank at the busy Kandahar Gate area of Herat, where a large crowd gathered to watch. Videos circulating on social media showed Taliban members kicking the body in the head and face as bystanders filmed the scene. In the footage, a Taliban fighter identified the man as a member of an armed opposition group and accused him of killing two Taliban members, including Mawlawi Hassan Akhund, the commander of Taliban’s 10th security district in Herat.
The opposition group “Nahzat Azadi-Bakhsh Islami Mardom Afghanistan” — which has claimed responsibility for attacks in western Afghanistan — had said earlier this week it was behind the assault that killed Akhund. A piece of paper bearing the words “Death to the Nahzat Azadi-Bakhsh Afghanistan group” was also seen attached to the corpse.
The Taliban’s Herat police command later issued a conflicting statement on X, formerly Twitter, claiming the man was only suspected of theft. The statement said he was identified by residents, detained during a Taliban operation, and “eliminated.” Rights activists condemned the act as an unlawful killing.
“Taking away someone’s right to life without a fair trial and due process is a blatant violation of human rights,” said Hadi Farzam, a human rights activist. “Hanging the body in public after the killing is a direct affront to human dignity.” A member of the Window of Hope women’s movement told Amu that Taliban trials deny defendants the right to lawyers or defense. “The Taliban’s use of executions and corporal punishment is intensifying, and taking away the right to life contradicts both justice and Islamic principles,” she said. Tweet This is not the first such incident. In recent years, the Taliban have carried out multiple public executions. Last year, four men accused of kidnapping were shot and hanged in Herat, while earlier this year four more people were executed in Farah, Nimroz, and Badghis provinces.

14 April 2025 :

Four men were publicly executed in Afghanistan on April 11, 2025, the Supreme Court said, the highest number of executions to be carried out in one day since the Taliban's return to power.
The executions at sports stadiums in three separate provinces brought to 10 the number of men publicly put to death since 2021, according to an AFP tally.
Public executions were common during the Taliban's first rule from 1996 to 2001, with most carried out publicly in sports stadiums.
Two men were shot around six or seven times by a male relative of the victims in front of spectators in Qala-i-Naw, the centre of Badghis province, witnesses told an AFP journalist in the city.
"They were made to sit and turn their backs to us. Relatives from the victims' families stood behind and shot them with a gun," Mohammad Iqbal Rahimyar, a 48-year-old spectator, told AFP.
The men had been "sentenced to retaliatory punishment" for shooting other men, after their cases were "examined very precisely and repeatedly", the Supreme Court said in a statement.
The families of the victims turned down the opportunity to offer the men amnesty, it said.
"If the family of the victim had forgiven the men it would be better, otherwise it's God's order, and should be implemented," a 35-year-old man who gave his name as Zabihullah told AFP outside the stadium.
Afghans had been invited to "attend the event" in official notices shared widely on April 10.
A third man was executed in Zaranj in Nimroz province and the fourth was in Farah city in the western province of the same name, the Supreme Court said.
"It's good that the Islamic Emirate shows its politics and force. I am very happy with that," said another 30-year-old spectator named Javid, referring to the Taliban government's official name.
All execution orders are signed by the Taliban's reclusive Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, who lives in the movement's heartland of Kandahar.

07 October 2025 :

Taliban have released 72 prisoners from a jail in the northern province of Sar-e-Pul under orders from their leader, while reducing the sentences of 95 others, local sources told Amu on October 6, 2025.
However, the sources said political prisoners and those accused of “propaganda” against the Taliban were not among those released or granted clemency.
A relative of one inmate, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, said that most of those freed were individuals linked to or affiliated with the Taliban, while political detainees remain behind bars.
“My family member in the Sar-e-Pul prison told me that none of the political prisoners were freed,” the relative said.
Taliban have not commented publicly on the reported releases.
The move comes amid continued international criticism of the Taliban’s human rights record. The US State Department’s 2024 Human Rights Report said the Taliban have built an “institutionalized structure of repression” against women, girls, and critics of their rule — describing it as “widespread and systematic” and potentially amounting to crimes against humanity.
The report also cited findings from UN Special Rapporteur Richard Bennett, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and Human Rights Watch, all of which documented enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, and other serious abuses under Taliban rule.
Bennett said he had received firsthand testimonies from victims and witnesses of such disappearances, including human rights defenders, legal experts, and protesters — many of them women.
While the US report noted evidence of war crimes and possible genocide, it added that Washington has not yet made a formal determination regarding crimes against humanity committed by the Taliban.

04 September 2025 :

The Taliban publicly flogged 13 people, including a woman, in Kabul over the past two days for adultery and drug-related offenses, the group’s supreme court announced on September 2, 2025.
According to the court, 12 people were publicly lashed on September 1 for the sale and trafficking of narcotic tablets, alcoholic beverages, methamphetamine, and hashish. Each received between 10 and 39 lashes and prison sentences ranging from seven months to two years.
In a separate case, a woman accused of adultery was publicly lashed 39 times on August 31. She was also sentenced to two years in prison by the primary court, a sentence later confirmed by the Supreme Court.
Public lashings and other corporal punishments have become increasingly common in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
According to the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), at least 234 public floggings were recorded between April and June of this year, including 48 women and even one child. In June alone, more than 80 people were publicly whipped across several provinces.

02 September 2025 :

The case of an Afghan teacher sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy will go before a Taliban appeals court by the end of September, local sources in Paktika province said on August 31, 2025.
Abdul Aleem Khamosh was convicted by a primary Taliban court in July on charges of insulting the Prophet of Islam and other sacred figures. The trial was held without a defence lawyer, according to relatives and rights groups.
Family members said Taliban officials have now informed Khamosh’s lawyer that he will be allowed to attend the appeal hearing. They added that while prison visits were previously denied, relatives are now occasionally permitted to see him.
Khamosh, a teacher in Janikhil district of Paktika, was arrested earlier this year after reportedly telling students that modern sciences were more important than religious studies. His family denied the blasphemy allegations and called for his immediate release.
Taliban officials from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice detained him following the classroom remarks and transferred him to prison.

05 June 2025 :

The Taliban have released 1,559 prisoners and shortened the sentences of 950 others on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, the group’s supreme court announced on June 4, 2025.
In a statement, the court said these actions took place across eight provinces, including Kabul, Nangarhar, Laghman, Panjshir, Parwan, Kapisa, Khost, and Nimruz.
According to the court, the decision was ordered by Abdul Hakim Haqqani, head of the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
Prisoners eligible for release or sentence reduction were those who demonstrated good behavior, adhered to Islamic principles, and participated in religious programs while in custody.
On a similar occasion during Eid al-Fitr in March, the Taliban released or reduced the sentences of 5,615 prisoners, the court added.
The total number of people currently held in Taliban-run prisons remains uncertain, as authorities have provided varying figures. Last year, the Taliban reported holding over 20,000 people, including women, children, and foreign nationals.
Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has detained hundreds of people, including women, activists, journalists, former government employees, and critics of the regime. While some have been released after giving guarantees, many remain imprisoned.
There have been growing concerns over conditions in Taliban detention centers, with reports of widespread abuse, including torture, sexual violence, and forced labour.
A joint investigation by The Guardian and Afghan outlet Zan Times published in November 2024 revealed testimonies from women describing rape, beatings, and witnessing the deaths of children while imprisoned.
Human rights groups continue to call for independent access to Taliban prisons, warning that without oversight, detainees—especially women and children—face serious risks of mistreatment.

15 May 2025 :

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that more than 128,000 Afghan refugees have been repatriated from Pakistan since early April, the majority of whom were forcibly deported.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on May 14, 2025, the IOM said it had provided shelter, food, medical care, and protection to more than 68,000 returnees, most of them women and children.
The IOM warned that the needs of returnees remain high.
Pakistan, which has hosted one of the world’s largest Afghan refugee populations for decades, has intensified deportations in recent months. Thousands are now being sent back daily to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, a country struggling with poverty and humanitarian challenges.
Authorities in Pakistan say at least 1.3 million Afghan refugees have been expelled since late 2023, when a crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals began.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 1.6 million Afghan refugees will return from Pakistan in 2025. It expects 80% of them to be repatriated between April and September.
Human rights groups and UN agencies have urged Pakistan to stop the deportations, citing the worsening crisis in Afghanistan. Nearly 23 million people—mostly women and children—rely on humanitarian aid, while restrictions on women’s rights remain severe under Taliban rule.
Activists, former government employees, and journalists are particularly at risk, the UN has warned.
“Among these refugees are former Afghan government officials, civil society activists, musicians, and educated professionals. Forcing them back would mean putting their lives at serious risk,” said UNHCR spokesperson Qaisar Khan Afridi.

14 January 2025 :

The Peshawar High Court on January 10, 2025 issued an order preventing the forced deportation of more than 100 Afghan musicians who have sought political asylum in Pakistan, according to local media reports.
The court directed Pakistan’s federal government to decide on their asylum applications within two months and instructed security agencies not to take action against the musicians during this period. The order was outlined in a two-page decision authored by Justice Waqar Ahmad.
The petitioners told the court they fled Afghanistan after the Taliban’s return to power, citing threats to their lives and the loss of their livelihoods under the group’s rule. They said they faced harassment and threats of deportation in Pakistan, arguing that such actions violate international human rights laws.
The musicians contended that Pakistan, under international law, cannot forcibly deport them. In response, the court directed the federal government or designated officials to resolve their asylum requests promptly.
The court also noted that the Afghan musicians could seek asylum through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Should their cases remain unresolved after two months, the federal interior secretary must allow them to stay in Pakistan temporarily under a policy framework.
The Afghan Taliban hold the belief that music is forbidden in Islam, though several schools of thought within the religion differ with their interpretation.