Taliban publicly flogged seven people in Herat province in western Afghanistan after convicting them of selling alcohol, according to a statement from the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
Each of the individuals was sentenced to two years in prison and 39 lashes, the court said. The identities of those punished were not disclosed.
The punishment is part of a broader pattern of corporal penalties carried out by Taliban since their return to power in 2021.
Data compiled from Taliban Supreme Court statements indicate that at least 1,186 people were flogged publicly during the 1404 solar year (March 2025 to March 2026. Of those, nearly 100 were women, many of whom were punished in public settings over the past eight months.
In addition to floggings, Taliban have carried out executions under the principle of qisas, or retributive justice, in several provinces. According to available data, such punishments were recorded in at least four provinces during the past year.
Taliban courts have also imposed corporal punishment for a range of offenses, including charges related to opposition to their rule. In one case, a person in Kapisa province in central Afghanistan was sentenced to 39 lashes and 18 months in prison on such charges.
The UN said in a recent quarterly report that Taliban had flogged 316 people over a three-month period, including 30 women, one girl and four boys, for various offenses.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly criticized the use of public corporal punishment, warning that it violates international human rights standards.
