Afghan Taliban say group will stick to strict Islamic law

By RIAZAT BUTT
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban spokesman says the group will stick to its strict interpretation of Islamic law, or Sharia. Thursday’s announcement underscores the Taliban’s intention to continue the hard-line policies they implemented since taking 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. The spokesman says the group’s supreme leader has instructed judges to implement Sharia law in their rulings. He said this prompted perceptions that Islamic law had been abandoned in the Islamic emirate, as the Taliban call their administration. But the spokesman says that’s not the case.