Taliban Publicly Flogs Two Men In Khost For Having Same-Sex Relations

These rescuers have helped the Kyrgyz living in Badakhshan with medicines, hygiene supplies and veterinary facilities.

Kyrgyzstan's AKI Press reported on Tuesday, October 15, that the humanitarian group, led by Kyrgyzstan's Deputy Minister of Labour, Social Security and Migration, Darmankul uulu Bakyt travelled to Badakhshan on the orders of Kyrgyzstan's president.

The Kyrgyz humanitarian group, which includes cardiologists, dentists, and obstetricians and gynaecologists, has so far provided medical services to 755 Kyrgyz people in Badakhshan, including 195 women and 180 children, according to the outlet.

The media outlet stated that the Kyrgyz humanitarian delegation spoke with the Taliban governor in Badakhshan about the "economic and infrastructural" problems and the living conditions of the Kyrgyz people in the province.

This humanitarian delegation has also taught the Kyrgyz living in the Pamir of Badakhshan how to use veterinary medicines and diagnose infectious diseases.

The Kyrgyz of Afghanistan live mainly in the Pamir Mountains of Badakhshan. They face many difficulties and do not have adequate access to health and livelihood facilities. The problems of this deprived minority increase sharply in the winter season due to snowfall and lack of transportation roads.

The Taliban said that they punished each of these individuals with 25 lashes on charges of "illegitimate relations" and robbery.

On Tuesday, October 15, the Taliban's Supreme Court wrote in a statement that two individuals were also sentenced to one month in prison on charges of robbery. The court said that the verdict of the Maidan Wardak court was implemented in the presence of local officials and the general public.

Despite widespread international condemnation, the Taliban has continued to punish defendants in public.

International organisations emphasise that the Taliban's courts do not respect the principles of fair trial and that the defendants do not have access to a lawyer and the principles of fair trial.

The spokesperson of the ministry said that there are 25 million active SIM cards in Afghanistan, of which 13.9 million have been registered.

Enayatullah Alokozai, the spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Communications, wrote in a post on social media platform X on Tuesday, October 15, that the group manages illegal SIM cards and protects people's privacy by creating a system.

The spokesperson of the ministry emphasised that the process of registering SIM cards is still ongoing across the country.

The Taliban's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology had previously asked all telecom companies in Afghanistan to register their customers' SIM cards according to the procedure for registering telecom SIM cards.

The previous Afghan government also tried to register SIM cards to ensure security and prevent abuse by armed groups, especially the Taliban, but this process did not succeed.

However, experts and citizens are now concerned that the Taliban will violate citizens' privacy under the guise of providing security.

American media outlet The Media Line wrote that Pakistani officials believe the weapons were supposed to be delivered to militant groups in Pakistan.

News International, a Pakistani media outlet, reported on Tuesday that Mohammad Omar Jan, the head of Torkham Customs, said at a press conference that a team intercepted a coal truck coming from Afghanistan after receiving reliable information.

According to officials, 15 M4 rifles, 170 magazines and more than 5,100 rounds of ammunition were transported in the vehicle. The value of these weapons is estimated at 35 million Pakistani rupees, equivalent to more than $126,000.

Pakistani customs officials have also released a picture of the weapons.

The Media Line, an American media outlet, wrote in its report that Pakistani officials believe that these weapons were supposed to be delivered to various groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Officials said that the driver and his companion were detained and taken to an undisclosed location for questioning.

"The seized weapons include assault rifles, pistols, night vision instruments, thousands of bullets and other modern weapons," a Pakistani customs official told The Media Line.

The seizure of a significant cache of US weapons a day before the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) conference in Islamabad has been described as a "major anti-terrorist" operation.

Earlier, US weapons were found in the possession of Pakistani Taliban militants. Pakistani security officials and political leaders have long insisted that US-made weapons and ammunition left over in Afghanistan are being used in attacks on Pakistan.

In December last year, Pakistani security forces announced the seizure of advanced US weapons from a shipment entering Afghanistan at the Torkham crossing.

In April 2022, a research centre for security issues in Canada said in a report that the market for smuggling US-made weapons from Afghanistan to Pakistan has boomed.

US officials said that after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan and the Taliban's takeover in August 2021, $7.2 billion worth of US weapons and military equipment remained in Afghanistan.

Reports of cross-border smuggling of US weapons and the use of these weapons against security and law enforcement forces in Pakistan contradict the Taliban's claims that there is no threat from Afghan soil to neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan.

Pakistani officials have repeatedly criticised the TTP for killing its soldiers using night-vision cameras and weapons left behind by US forces in Afghanistan.

Saif Khyber told AFP that efforts have been launched to ban the broadcast of the live image in the media in some provinces.

On Monday, October 14, Khyber said that the law banning the publication of the image of living beings in the media will be implemented "gradually" across Afghanistan.

Taliban officials are currently trying to convince the public that broadcasting live images of living beings in the media is a "violation of Islamic law", he added.

However, the Taliban official claimed that "coercion" has no place in the implementation of the group's laws. "This is just advice and [an attempt] to convince people that this is really against Sharia and should be avoided," he added.

In addition to banning the broadcast of live images, the Taliban's new law will also impose other regulations on the media, AFP reported. These include banning publications that are "contrary to Islamic law" and content that "insults Islam”.

According to the report, the law will also advise citizens not to take pictures of living creatures on their personal phones or look at their images.

A spokesman for the Taliban's Ministry of Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has said that efforts to implement the law banning the distribution of images of living creatures in the media have begun in a few provinces, but not all provinces.

Implementation of the law has begun in Kandahar, Helmand and Takhar provinces, he said.

On Sunday, officials from the Taliban's Ministry of Virtue in Ghazni summoned local journalists and told them that the law banning the publication of images of living beings would be implemented gradually, AFP reported.

At the meeting, the Taliban advised journalists to film fewer events to "get used to the work", a journalist said.

Yesterday, local sources in Takhar said that Taliban officials, during a meeting with journalists and local media officials, issued an order to completely ban photography and video reporting in the province. They emphasised that visual media should be transformed into radio.

In February, sources in Kandahar province told Afghanistan International that Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had verbally instructed the group's officials not to give video interviews. A source at the Kandahar National Television said that human presence on television screens has been banned.

In the past three years, the Taliban has imposed widespread restrictions and repression on the media. The Taliban's actions against the media have led to many journalists, especially women, leaving the profession. As a result of the restrictions, a large number of media outlets have also been forced to stop their broadcasts.

When the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, 8,400 media workers were active in the country, AFP reported. According to the report, this number now reaches 5,100 people.

During the first period of its rule, from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban banned taking photos and videos and watching television. This group had also declared the painting of living beings and music to be illegal and prohibited.

However, the Taliban now extensively use social networks and visual media under the group's control to broadcast images of their officials and for propaganda purposes.