Taliban flog 27 Afghans, including nine women

CHARIKAR: The Taliban flogged 27 Afghans, including women, in front of a large crowd on Thursday amid international criticism of the public punishments.

Chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the criticism showed outsiders “don’t have respect for the beliefs, laws, and internal issues of the Muslims”.In a statement, the supreme court said 27 “criminals” were flogged on Thursday in Charikar, the capital of Parwan province, north of the capital of Kabul.

It said nine women were among those punished for crimes including “sodomy, deception, fake witness, forgery, selling and buying tablet K (drugs), debauchery, escaping from home, highway robbery and illegal relationships”. “Each of these criminals confessed their crimes before the court without any force and was satisfied with the punishment,” it said. A witness said more than 1,000 people watched as the floggings were administered at a stadium. “The public was chanting ´Allahu Akbar and ´we want the law of God to be implemented on our soil´,” he said.They taunted those being flogged with cries of “will you do that again”, the witness added. Those flogged writhed in pain as they received 20 to 39 blows with a cane.