THE Taliban have cut the hands off four petty thieves in a football stadium, it was reported.
It comes after the hardline Islamist rulers of Afghanistan accused Prince Harry of war crimes for admitting killing 25 of their fighters while serving in the country.
The Taliban have also carried out floggings as they seek to impose their extreme interpretation of Islam on Afghanistan after seizing power last year.
According to local news outlet 8am, the thieves had their hands cut off at a football stadium in Kandahar province in front of a large crowd.
Meanwhile nine men were lashed in the stadium for various crimes, said Haji Zaid a spokesman for the governor’s office.
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Each man was lashed between 35 and 39 times in front of Taliban officials, religious clerics, elders, and local people.
Pictures from the scene showed a group of people sitting on the grass as they awaited their punishment.
Many Afghans now fear their country is reverting back to the brutal first rule of the Taliban when public executions, floggings and other punishments were meted out.
Afghan journalist Tajuden Soroush tweeted a picture of the scene outside the stadium and said: “It’s all just history repeating itself. Like 1990s Taliban began public punishment.”
Last month, the Taliban executed an Afghan convicted of killing another man, the first public execution since the former insurgents returned to power.
The execution was carried out with an assault rifle by the victim’s father in western Farah province as hundreds of spectators and many top Taliban officials watched.
No country has officially recognized the new Afghan government under the Taliban, who previously ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
Taliban officials earlier branded Prince Harry a "loser" after he revealed he killed 25 fighters in his new book Spare.
The evil militant group raged the Duke of Sussex should be brought before an "international court" for his "crimes" during his brave tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Harry revealed in his new book that he flew six missions on his second tour in Afghanistan in 2012 while serving in the British Army.
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He claimed he killed 25 Taliban fighters during the war while piloting his Apache attack helicopter.
But his admission has sparked the brutal group's fury as it is now back in power in Afghanistan - after a muddled Western retreat in 2021 allowed them to retake Kabul.
