Lashed in public, shot in stadiums: Inside the Afghan Taliban's punishment machine

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan's Taliban have built a nationwide system of public executions and mass floggings, carrying out corporal punishment on at least 1,200 people and executing convicted murderers in sports stadiums and provincial squares, according to official Taliban Supreme Court records and data compiled by a local news outlet. 

Public floggings rose by 92% in a single month, from March 21 to April 19, 2026, as reported by Amu TV based on Taliban court statements. At least 115 people, including 14 women, were punished across 19 provinces. Kabul recorded the highest single-month toll with 24 floggings, followed by Nimroz with 17, and Nangarhar and Khost with nine each.

Every capital sentence requires the personal sign-off of Supreme Leader Amirul Momineen Sheikh Hibatullah Akhundzada before implementation, according to the Supreme Court's own published records. Official documents describe this final review as an act of "ultimate caution." The Supreme Leader convenes a council of senior religious scholars to examine each case before issuing the execution order.

Executions in stadiums and squares
At least four public executions have been documented through official Taliban channels since August 2021.

The first took place in Farah province in 2022-23, attended by Chief Justice Sheikh Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, per Supreme Court records. Two men were then executed simultaneously at the Ali Baba football stadium in Ghazni on February 21, 2024, one convicted of a knife killing, another of a separate murder, after what the Supreme Court described as "full and repeated" investigation.

In Paktia's provincial capital, Gardez, Muhammad Ayaz was executed for killing a man with a Kalashnikov rifle. The victim's family was "repeatedly offered the opportunity for forgiveness and peace" but insisted on execution, per official statements. Most recently, on December 2, 2025, Mangal, son of Tala Khan, was shot in Khost's sports stadium for premeditated murder, with the court citing a Quranic verse in its official announcement.

Floggings by province and offense
Supreme Court records from February and March 2026 document the geographic spread of floggings. In Farah's Balabuluk district, 14 individuals received between 20 and 39 lashes each on sodomy charges, while five others, including one woman, received public punishment for 'illicit relations' and theft. In Maidan Wardak, four people, including one woman, were publicly flogged for adultery and sodomy. 

In Kabul's Char Asiab district, two people, including one woman, were punished for illicit relations and fleeing home. A theft conviction in Zabul carried 39 lashes and three years in prison; another in Ghazni drew one year imprisonment alongside discretionary punishment, per the same records.

The court's General Directorate of Judicial Research and Studies issued 81 technical legal opinions during Ramadan, February 2026, alone to ensure punishments "conformed to Hanafi jurisprudence," according to the Supreme Court's quarterly report.

Scale of the apparatus
The judicial machinery extends beyond punishment. The Ministry of Justice handled 33,700 property petitions and 57,000 commercial loan disputes in 2022-23 and returned over 308,935 acres of land to state control, according to its annual report. In November 2025, 7,521 prisoners were released or had sentences reduced following inspections ordered by the Chief Justice, according to Supreme Court records.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, whose X account has approximately one million followers, directly announces executions and dismisses UN criticism as "contrary to reality," according to a Semantic Scholar study on Taliban digital strategy. 

The Taliban's supreme leader used the same channels in August 2025 to warn that "God will severely punish Afghans ungrateful for [not accepting the Taliban's] rule," as reported by PBS.

The United Nations and multiple human rights organizations have condemned the use of corporal punishment and public executions in Afghanistan.