2 Starving Afghan Boys Tied To A Wood By The Taliban For Stealing Bread (Photos)

The jihadi militia's ruthless regime is cracking down with new medieval-style laws after they surged back to power in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of forces by the US. It comes as last week top Taliban leaders pledged to resurrect harsh physical punishments, including chopping off the hands of convicted thieves.

And it has also been revealed that the regime has circulated edicts to barber shops and bath houses in the nation banning the trimming of beards.

Pictures show the two painfully-thin looking boys in Afghanistan tied to a wooden post - but it is unclear when and where it was taken.

The image was shared by Dawod Zai, who runs the Afghan welfare charity the Bin Dawod Foundation.

He said: “Bread thieves! Taliban have arrested two teenage boy for stealing bread from a bakery.

“One of them told a local journalist, ‘my family did not eat in past 3 days, i am sorry if i took that bread without permission, but i had to. There is no job & no food, what would i've done?’"

Afghanistan is facing a hunger crisis as the World Food Programme estimated 93 per cent of Afghans are not getting enough food to eat.

Millions live in desperate poverty and the Taliban takeover saw life grind to a halt as banks closed and businesses shut down.

Other disturbing pictures uploaded by Mr Zai also show a teenage boy being whipped by an older man.

As he is flogged, another male – flanked by armed fighters – appears to be reading an edict from a sheet of paper.

Mr Zai said of the pictures: “A child being tortured by the #Taliban Terrorists.The physical pain will be forgotten soon but the psychological impact of this barbarism will have a long lasting impact on his life & it will be difficult to be cured.”

And Afghan journalist Tajuden Souroush shared images of official letters sent to hairdressers in three provinces.

He said: “Taliban banned Shaving or cutting of beard in Helmand province of Afghanistan. In this letter issued by the department of vice and virtue, warns barbers and baths, in case of violation, you will be punished based on Sharia law.

“Taliban issued the same letter in Takhar and Baghlan provinces. People in these provinces confirmed to me that the Taliban banned shaving and cutting of beard.”

And over the weekend truly disturbing images emerged of men being strung up and hung from cranes in Herat.

Last week judges and officials said the strict punishments like amputations for theft, which became notorious under the Taliban's 1990s emirate, were a "necessary" part of Islamic law.

Mullah Nooruddin Turabi dismissed the outrage over the Taliban’s brutal executions in the past and pledged a return of the punishments which shocked the world before the group were ousted in 2001.

The one-eyed, one-legged enforcer said: "Everyone criticised us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments.

"No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran."

Turabi who is in his early 60s was the justice minister of the so-called Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice during the previous Taliban rule.

"Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” he said, before adding that the cabinet was considering whether to do punishments in public as before. "We are changed from the past,” he added saying that the Taliban would now allow television, mobile phones, photos and video "because this is the necessity of the people, and we are serious about it."