The Taliban suspended the dead body of a person suspected of kidnapping from a crane in the city square of Herat in western Afghanistan as a warning, according to a new report.
Local pharmacist Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi said Taliban members brought the bodies of four people to the main square and announced that they were caught in the act of kidnapping and killed by police.
Seddiqi said the three bodies were taken elsewhere in the city, which is about 500 miles west of Kabul, for public display, the Associated Press reported.
EXECUTIONS AND HAND AMPUTATIONS WILL RETURN TO AFGHANISTAN, TALIBAN OFFICIAL SAYS
The district police chief in Herat, Ziaulhaq Jalali, said that Taliban members rescued a man and son who had been abducted. Jalali said “the four [kidnappers] were killed in crossfire” and that a Taliban fighter and a civilian were wounded.
Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, a founder of the Taliban, confirmed Thursday that executions and hand amputations would resume in the country, though he said he was unsure whether the punishments would occur in public.
Turabi also dismissed criticism of how the Taliban handled executions in the past, which sometimes took place in front of crowds at a stadium.
“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” Turabi said. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam, and we will make our laws on the Quran.”
The Taliban deposed the Afghan government on Aug. 15 after entering Kabul, sending deposed President Ashraf Ghani fleeing. Whether the group would reprise the harsh methods of punishment they employed when they last ruled Afghanistan has remained subject to public speculation and press inquiries ever since.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
International leaders, including members of the Biden administration, have issued warnings to the Taliban and demanded that they respect the rights of women, who were required to cover themselves with burqas and given conditions as to when they could leave their homes. Women and girls were also limited in their ability to be educated in accordance with the group’s interpretation of Islamic law.
Reports have surfaced in recent weeks indicating a return to that mode of life, as girls were barred from returning to school and women were ordered to leave the workforce.
