Kabul: The Taliban is stressing the need for the implementation of Sharia in the nation, Tolo News reported.

Taliban-appointed Acting Interior Minister of Afghanistan Sirajuddin Haqqani while speaking to a gathering of religious clerics, tribal elders and local officials in Laghman, said that the current Jihad in the country is to implement Sharia law.

“We perform Jihad today by implementing Sharia and ensuring the government endures, and by reconstructing the country,” he said, as per Tolo News.

Tolo News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.

Meanwhile, Zalmai Afghanyar, a political analyst, said: “The ministers of the interior and defence are responsible for assuring the people about the security and borders of Afghanistan. They should motivate the Islamic Emirate’s forces on the borders. Also, the recent activities of Pakistan and Iran have caused security concerns. These are some of the purposes of this visit.”

Taliban wants to fully impose their interpretation of Sharia Law, including potential public executions, amputations and flogging, a move experts fear will lead to a further deterioration of human rights in the impoverished country.

Taliban’s hardline implementation of the doctrine when the group was last in power from 1996 to 2001 included violent punishments, such as public executions, stoning, floggings and amputations.

After seizing power last August, the Taliban attempted to project a more moderate image to gain international support, but in the months since, the group has clamped down on rights and freedoms.

Women in Afghanistan can no longer work in most sectors and require a male guardian for long-distance travel, while girls have been barred from returning to secondary school.

The security situation in the country has also deteriorated since the group’s takeover last year, with the nation growing increasingly isolated and impoverished.