KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Nineteen people in northeastern Afghanistan were lashed for adultery, theft and running away from home, a Supreme Court official said Sunday. The announcement underscored the Taliban’s intention of sticking to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia.

It appeared to be the first official confirmation that lashings and floggings are being meted out in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the group carried out public executions, floggings and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts.

After they overran Afghanistan last year, the Taliban initially promised to be more moderate and allow for women’s and minority rights. Instead, they have restricted rights and freedoms, including a ban on girl’s education beyond the sixth grade.

On Thursday, a Taliban spokesman said they are committed to implementing all Sharia laws.

A Supreme Court official, Abdul Rahim Rashid, said 10 men and nine women were lashed 39 times each in Taloqan city in northeastern Takhar province, on Nov. 11. He said the punishment took place in the presence of elders, scholars and residents at the city’s main mosque after Friday prayers.

Rashid did not provide personal details on the 19 people, such as where they were from, or what happened to them after they were lashed. He said their cases were assessed by two courts before they were convicted, confirming information in a Supreme Court statement.

The United Nations has said it is increasingly concerned that restrictions on girls’ education, as well as other measures curtailing basic freedoms, will deepen Afghanistan’s economic crisis and lead to greater insecurity, poverty and isolation.

The former insurgents have struggled in their transition from insurgency and warfare to governing amid an economic downturn and the international community’s withholding of official recognition.

More Afghans will be struggling for survival as living conditions deteriorate in the year ahead, a top official of the International Committee of the Red Cross said in an interview, as the country braces for its second winter under Taliban rule.

The religious group’s seizure of power in August 2021 sent the economy into a tailspin and fundamentally transformed Afghanistan, driving millions into poverty and hunger as foreign aid stopped almost overnight.

“The economic hardship is there. It’s very serious and people will struggle for their lives,” Martin Schuepp, director of operations at the Red Cross, said in an interview late Sunday.

Sanctions on Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers and frozen billions in Afghanistan’s currency reserves have already restricted access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the country’s aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.

The onset of winter will compound the acute humanitarian needs that half the country is already facing, Schuepp pointed out.

“Prices are spiking due to a whole set of reasons, but also the issue of sanctions has led to massive consequences,” he said. “We see more and more Afghans who are having to sell their belongings to make ends meet, where they have to buy materials for heating while at the same time have to face increasing costs for food and other essential items.”

Sanctions on Taliban rulers, a halt on bank transfers and frozen billions in Afghanistan’s currency reserves have already restricted access to global institutions and the outside money that supported the country’s aid-dependent economy before the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.

The onset of winter will compound the acute humanitarian needs that half the country is already facing, Schuepp pointed out.

The Red Cross is already paying the salaries of 10,500 medical staff every month to ensure basic healthcare services stay afloat, he added.

“We are very conscious that it’s not our primary role to pay for salaries of medical staff. As a humanitarian organization, we are not best placed to do that. We have done so exceptionally to ensure that services continue to be provided.”

Schuepp, who was making his first visit to Afghanistan as director of operations since the Taliban takeover, said the agency was feeding most of the country’s prison population. He was unable to immediately say how many prisoners there were in Afghanistan.

“We have stepped up our support to prisons and prisoners, ensuring that food is being provided in the prisons throughout the country,” he said. “Today, about 80% of the prison population benefits from such food support.”

He described the Red Cross’ role as a “stop-gap measure” that had become necessary following the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government once Washington began its final withdrawal of troops in August 2021.

The Red Cross has tried “to make sure that basic services continue” in prisons under Taliban rule, he said.

No country in the world has recognized the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, as the Taliban call their administration, leaving them internationally isolated. The religious group previously ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s and was overthrown by a U.S. invasion in 2001.

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban will stick to their strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia, a spokesman said Thursday, underscoring the group’s intention to continue hard-line policies implemented since they took over the country more than a year ago.

During their previous years in power in the late 1990s, the Taliban carried out public executions, floggings, and stoning of those convicted of crimes in Taliban courts.

After they overran Afghanistan in August 2021 as American and NATO forces were in the last weeks of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war, the Taliban initially promised to be more moderate and allow for women’s and minority rights.

Instead, they have cracked down heavier on rights and freedoms.

Women are banned from parks, funfairs, gyms, and most forms of employment. They are ordered to cover themselves from head to toe. Girls are forbidden from going to school beyond sixth grade. There are also clampdowns on music and the media.

According to Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhunzada, met with Taliban judges a few days ago and instructed them to implement Sharia law in their rulings.

Mujahid said this instruction prompted perceptions that Islamic law had been abandoned in the Islamic emirate, as the Taliban call their administration. But that’s not the case, he added.

“It doesn’t mean that the Islamic emirate didn’t implement the limits of Allah Almighty since it came to power,” he said. “Rather, the Islamic emirate is committed to implementing all Sharia laws from day one.”

Videos and photos of Taliban fighters punishing people for various offences have frequently appeared on social media in the last 15 months, although officials have never confirmed these incidents.

On Thursday, in Bamiyan province, a young man and woman were arrested and publicly lashed 39 times each for allegedly having an extramarital relationship, a witness who lives in the area said.

The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said he went to the Shaheed Mazari stadium where the punishment took place. Hundreds of locals watched but were barred from taking photographs and filming, the resident added.

The Taliban brought the couple in and started lashing the pair, at which point the witness said he left. He added that he did not know who the couple were, where they were from or what ultimately happened to them.

The Taliban could not immediately be reached to comment on the incident.

The former insurgents have struggled in their transition from insurgency and warfare to governing amid an economic downturn and the international community’s withholding of official recognition.

The United Nations has said it is increasingly concerned that restrictions on girls’ education, as well as other measures curtailing basic freedoms, will deepen Afghanistan’s economic crisis and lead to greater insecurity, poverty, and isolation.