Monitoring desk
ISLAMABAD/KANDAHAR: Taliban publicly flogged nine men in front of hundreds of citizens at a stadium in Afghanistan for crimes including theft charges.
According to the Independent, the lashings took place at the Ahmad Shahi Stadium in Kandahar, and each man was struck with flogs between 35 and 39 times in front of religious clerics, officials, and local people.
Nine men flogged up to 39 times
Haji Zaid, a spokesperson for the Kandahar governor’s office, wrote on Twitter: “nine criminals were given penal sentences.”
The sentences were 35 for some men and 39 to others.
According to the Taliban, the maximum number of lashes each person received was 39.
Taliban officials did not specify the crimes the nine men were accused of.
Afghan TV channel Tolo news, cited the country’s Supreme Court statement, saying they were punished on charges of robbery and sodomy.
Images on social media appeared to show hundreds of spectators on the periphery of the sports stadium as the citizens accused by Taliban were seen queuing up. They were also surrounded by armed forces personnel of the Taliban government.
Shabnam Nasimi, an ex-policy adviser to the United Kingdom, claimed that “the Taliban reportedly cut off the hands of four citizens in the football stadium in Kandahar, accusing them of theft.”
