The UN has condemned the public flogging of more than 60 people, including more than a dozen women, by the Taliban in northern Sari Pul province.

At least 63 people were lashed on Tuesday by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in a statement, condemning corporal punishment and calling for respect for international human rights obligations.

Taliban’s supreme court confirmed the public flogging of 63 people, including 14 women who had been accused of crimes including sodomy, theft and immoral relations. They were flogged at a sports stadium.

The Taliban, despite promises of more moderate rule, began carrying out severe punishments in public – executions, floggings and stonings – shortly after returning to power in 2021. The punishments are similar to those seen during the Taliban’s previous rule in the late 1990s.

Separate statements by the supreme court said a man and a woman convicted of adultery and trying to run away from home were flogged in northern Panjsher province on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the Taliban publicly executed a man convicted of murder as thousands watched at a stadium in northern Jawzjan province. The brother of the murdered man shot the convict five times with a rifle.

It was the fifth public execution since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 as USand Nato troops were in the final weeks of their withdrawal from the country after two decades of war.