Taliban official says executions, amputations will return: ‘No one will tell us what our laws should be’

A top Taliban official said executions and amputations will return as punishments for criminals in Afghanistan, echoing policies the group had in place when it ruled the country in the 1990s. 

Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the founders of the Taliban, told The Associated Press the group has not decided if the punishments will be public. 

In the past, the Taliban have shot murderers dead, cut off a hand of thieves and cut off a hand and foot for a highway robber.

“Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” Turabi, who was the head of the Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in the ’90s, told the outlet amid international concerns about the new regime’s plans.

“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments,” he added. “No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran.”

The group will “develop a policy” on whether the punishments will be executed publicly. 

Under the Taliban’s previous rule, Turabi once kicked a woman journalist out of the room and would let his men beat other men who trimmed their beards, according to the AP. 

“We are changed from the past,” he told journalist Kathy Gannon of the AP.

The Taliban took over Afghanistan quickly in August as the U.S. pulled its troops from the country, with thousands fleeing out of fears of harsh crackdowns and reprisals under the new government in Kabul.

The U.S. and international groups have threatened the Taliban with isolation and harsh sanctions if it returns to its former ways.