The Taliban is bringing back executions and cutting off hands as punishment after retaking control of Afghanistan

• The Taliban will bring back executions and the amputation of hands as a form of punishment.
• The group's former justice minister told the Associated Press the actions are "necessary."
• During the Taliban's last rule, executions and amputations were held at Kabul's sports stadium.

The Taliban will bring back executions and the amputation of hands as a form of punishment, one of the militant group's founders Mullah Nooruddin Turabi told the Associated Press in an interview published Thursday.

The grisly reprisals won't always take place in public, but Turabi cautioned the world against interference with Afghanistan's new governing force.

"Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments," Turabi told the AP. "No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran."

Turabi is an enforcer of the Taliban's brutal interpretation of Islamic law, the report said, and was the militant group's justice minister in their 1996-2001 regime.

During that rule, executions and amputations were held at Kabul's sports stadium and sometimes in front of crowds, the report said. The amputations were considered by the Taliban to be a deterrent, Turabi argued.

"Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security," he said.

The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August for the first time since 2001. The militant Islamists marched into Kabul after rapidly taking over major cities, often without much of a fight.

The US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 knocked the Taliban from power at the time. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan opened the door for the militant group to once again assert itself as the most dominant force in the country.

The Taliban initially sought to present itself as a more moderate, changed entity compared to how it behaved in the past. It promised that there would be no revenge against those who assisted the US and pledged to establish an inclusive government.

But it wasn't long before the Taliban began violently cracking down on protests against its rule, and the UN has accused it of breaking promises. And the interim government established by the Taliban does not include women, but does include people on the UN sanctions list. The interim interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is a US-designated terrorist who is wanted by the FBI.

There has been particular concern in the international community over what Taliban rule will mean for Afghan women and girls. During its first stint in power, the Taliban barred women from receiving an education or appearing in public without a male chaperone and full body coverings. There were violent reprisals for women who violated the Taliban's draconian rules.

Earlier this month, the Taliban announced that Afghan universities will be segregated by gender and a new dress code will be introduced. The Taliban has also responded violently to women-led protests, and closed a government ministry focused on women's affairs.

"Since taking over the city on August 12, 2021, the Taliban have instilled fear among women and girls by searching out high-profile women; denying women freedom of movement outside their homes; imposing compulsory dress codes; severely curtailing access to employment and education; and restricting the right to peaceful assembly," Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday.

The Taliban this week issued a request to speak before the United Nations General Assembly. No countries have formally recognized the Taliban-led government.