Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada met with judges on Saturday and told them to probe all cases and implement legitimate Islamic orders, including Hudud, when sentencing offenders.
This means offenders could have their hands amputated, be flogged or given the death penalty.
The meeting reportedly happened in Kandahar on Saturday evening with the deputy chief of the Taliban for the supreme court, head of the military court, the Kandahar governor and other officials from courts in the southern zone, according to a statement by the Taliban on Sunday.
“The cases [involving] those charged with robbery, kidnapping and sedition should be assessed thoroughly,” the Taliban leader said.
“You are responsible to implement the Hudud and Qisas (death penalty),” he added. “Because this is the order of Sharia and it is my order, too, and it is an obligation.”
The order by the Taliban leader comes after mounting restrictions imposed by the group on women’s presence in society and people’s social life.
Taliban had widely implemented such orders when the group was in power in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
Since coming into power in August last year, the group has already carried out death penalties on some offenders – mostly in Herat.
