KABUL, 16 October 2021, (TON): The Taliban government in Afghanistan has directed local officials to avoid carrying out punishments in public unless the country's top court issues the order for public execution.

In a tweet, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the Council of Ministers has decided that no punishment will be carried out publicly when there is no need to publicise the convict and till the court issues an order for a public punishment.

He said while giving details of the cabinet meeting "public executions and hanging of bodies should be avoided unless the supreme court issues an order for such an action.”

The Council of Ministers is the name given to the cabinet in the Islamic Emirate.

The Taliban spokesman said "if the offender is punished, the punishment must be explained so that the people know about the crime.”

Last month, the Taliban had hung the bodies of four alleged kidnappers in the western city of Herat. The incident had been widely criticised and condemned on social media and by rights bodies.