Afghanistan’s Taliban has directed its officials to refrain from carrying out punishments in public unless its “top court” issues the order for public execution.

In a tweet, Taliban spokesperson 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.

“Public executions and hanging of bodies should be avoided unless the supreme court issues an order for such an action,” Mujahid was quoted as saying by the Dawn newspaper.

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“If the offender is punished, the punishment must be explained so that the people know about the crime,” the Taliban spokesperson said.

Earlier, the United States had strongly condemned the Taliban’s plans to reinstate amputations and executions as a type of punishment in Afghanistan.

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During a press conference, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US stands with the Afghan people, especially with members of minority groups, and demands that the Taliban immediately cease any such atrocious abuses.

“We condemn in the strongest terms reports of reinstating amputations and executions of Afghans. The acts, the Taliban are talking about here, would constitute clear gross abuses of human rights, and we stand firm with the international community to hold perpetrators of any such abuses accountable,” Price had said.