AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN PUBLICLY FLOGS 13 PEOPLE FOR ADULTERY AND DRUG-RELATED OFFENSES

September 4, 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.