Islamabad - Taliban justice officials in Afghanistan said Thursday that 12 people, including two women, had been publicly flogged this week after being tried and charged with adultery, sodomy, eloping, and having "illicit relations."

The regime's Supreme Court announced the punishments, saying they were carried out in the southeastern Khost and northern Parwan provinces, with members of the judiciary, administrative staff, and ordinary citizens present as onlookers.

Each of the twelve defendants received the maximum of 39 lashes and prison terms ranging from eight months to three years. The top court acknowledged that the sentences were imposed by provincial courts and implemented only after its approval.

At least 35 Afghans have been publicly flogged in this month alone, according to the Supreme Court data.

Hundreds of men and women have been flogged in packed sports stadiums across Afghanistan, while six people have been publicly executed under what the Taliban described as the Islamic concept of retributive justice, known as qisas.

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The United Nations and global human rights organizations have persistently decried the floggings and other forms of corporal punishment as contrary to Afghanistan's international human rights obligations, demanding the Taliban cease the practice.

Taliban leaders, who regained power in 2021, defend their criminal justice system and governance at large, saying they are based on their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

Authorities have banned Afghan girls from pursuing secondary and university-level education and prohibited women from seeking employment in most public and private workplaces. Women must also publicly cover their faces and travel with a male guardian.

No country has officially recognized the Taliban as legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, mainly over their harsh treatment of women and other human rights concerns. China and the United Arab Emirates have acknowledged a Taliban ambassador without recognizing the Afghan government.