Taliban chief vows to start stoning women

THE Taliban’s Supreme Leader has vowed to start stoning women to death in public as he declared the fight against Western democracy would continue.

“You say it’s a violation of women’s rights when we stone them to death,” said Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada in a voice message, aired on state TV over the weekend, addressing the West.

“But we will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public,” he declared in his harshest comments since taking over Kabul in August 2021.

“These are all against your democracy but we will continue doing it. We both say we defend human rights – we do it as God’s representative and you as the devil’s.” Afghanistan’s state TV, now under Taliban control, broadcasts voice messages purporting to be from Akhundzada, who has never been seen in public aside from a few old portraits.

He is believed to be based in southern Kandahar, the long-standing stronghold of the Taliban. Despite promising a

‘We both say we defend human rights – we do it as God’s representative and you as the devil’s’

more moderate government, the Taliban quickly returned to harsh public punishments like public executions and floggings, similar to those from their previous rule in the late 1990s.

The UN has strongly criticised the Taliban for carrying out public executions, lashings and stonings since seizing power and has called on the country’s rulers to halt such practices.

The remarks have incited outrage among Afghans, with some calling on the international community to increase pressure on the Taliban.

“The money that they receive from the international community as humanitarian aid is just feeding them against women,” Tala, a former civil servant, told The Daily Telegraph from Kabul.

“As a woman, I don’t feel safe and secure in Afghanistan. Each morning starts with a barrage of notices and orders imposing restrictions and stringent rules on women, stripping away even the smallest joys and extinguishing hope for a brighter future,” she added. “Women are living in prison,” Tala said, “And the Taliban are making it smaller for us every passing day.”