Thousands Watch as Girl Is Lashed

Thousands of people watched while a teenage girl, shrouded in a head-to-toe veil, received 100 lashes for walking with a man who was not her relative. The Taliban religious army also publicly amputated the hands of two men convicted of stealing $500 from a shop. Their hands were later displayed to the crowd in the sports arena of Kabul, the capital. Over a loudspeaker a local Taliban leader warned: “This is the fate of anyone who steals.” Roving bands of Taliban soldiers routinely beat women for not covering themselves completely and beat men who appear to have shaven--both are crimes under Taliban law.