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Twenty-seven people were publicly flogged today in front of a crowd in Afghanistan, a day after the first public execution ordered since the return to power of the Taliban, who called international criticism "interference in internal affairs", reported AFP, quoted by BTA.

In Charikar, the capital of western Parwan province, "27 criminals, including 18 men and 9 women, were flogged by order of the Sharia courts of the said province," the Afghan Supreme Court said in a statement.

Among the reasons listed for the imposition of this penalty are: sodomy, adultery, perjury, lewdness, running away from home or theft, as well as selling and possessing drugs.

"Every single one of these criminals confessed their crimes in court without resorting to force and was satisfied with the punishment given by the court," the Supreme Court said.

For the first time since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban publicly executed a man accused of murder yesterday in front of several hundred people in the western province of Farah.

The Afghan Taliban carried out the first public execution since taking power

The convict was killed by three bullets fired by his victim's father, under the law of blood feud.

This sentence was heavily criticized, in particular by the US and France.

Washington called it "repulsive" and expressed regret that the Taliban had not kept their promises to the rest of the world.

"In our view, this indicates that the Taliban are seeking to return to their backward and violent practices of the 1990s," said US State Department spokesman Ned Price.

Afghanistan

Taliban