AFGHANISTAN’S SUPREME LEADER ORDERS FULL ENFORCEMENT OF ISLAMIC LAW
KABUL: Afghanistan’s supreme leader has ordered judges to fully implement aspects of Islamic law that include public executions, stonings and floggings, and the amputation of limbs for thieves, the Taliban’s chief spokesman said.
Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted late on Sunday that the “obligatory” command by Hibatullah Akhundzada came after the secretive leader met with a group of judges.
Akhundzada, who has not been filmed or photographed in public since the Taliban returned to power in August last year, rules by decree from Kandahar, the movement’s birthplace and spiritual heartland.
The Taliban promised a softer version of the harsh rule that characterised their first stint in power, from 1996-2001, but have gradually clamped down on rights and freedoms.
“Carefully examine the files of thieves, kidnappers and seditionists,” Mujahid quoted Akhundzada as saying.
“Those files in which all the sharia (Islamic law) conditions of hudud and qisas have been fulfilled, you are obliged to implement... This is the ruling of sharia, and my command, which is obligatory.”
Hudud refers to offences which, under Islamic law, certain types of punishment are mandated, while qisas translates as “retaliation in kind” effectively an eye for an eye.
Rahima Popalzai, a legal and political analyst, said the edict could be an attempt by the Taliban to harden a reputation they may feel has softened since they returned to power.