New Delhi : A chilling video of a public execution has emerged on social media that reports say is from eastern Afghanistan’s Khost. A man convicted of murdering 13 members of a family, including nine children, was executed on Tuesday at a stadium in Khost, reported several news outlets, including the Associated Press.
The executed man, identified by Taliban officials as Mangal, had been convicted by Afghanistan’s Supreme Court and approved for execution by the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. The public execution drew international condemnation, with the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, calling it “inhuman, cruel and contrary to international law”. In Khost Province, the divine order of Qisas (retaliation) was carried out on a murderer,” said Afghan Supreme Court, adding, “At the conclusion of the gathering, prayers were made for the strengthening of national security.
Tens of thousands, including relatives of the victims, gathered at the sports stadium in Khost to witness the execution. Mostaghfar Gurbaz, spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, confirmed that Mangal had been found guilty of killing a Khost resident, Abdul Rahman, and other family members in Ali Shir and Terezio districts approximately 10 months ago. Tens of thousands can be seen packed inside and outside the stadium. As five gunshots rang out, people chanted religious slogans.
The murderer, Mangal, son of Tala Khan, grandson of Rahmat Khan, was originally from the Sajank area of Said Karam district of Paktia province, and a current resident of the Kuzi Abukhani area of Alishero and Terezio district of Khost province. Victims’ families were reportedly offered the option of forgiveness and reconciliation, which could have spared Mangal’s life. But they requested the death penalty instead.
The Taliban have reinstated a strict interpretation of Sharia law, including public executions, floggings, and other corporal punishments. This echoes the practices from their previous rule in the late 1990s. Human rights organisations have repeatedly criticised the Taliban’s justice system for lack of transparency, due process, and fairness. This is what an Islamic system means, a system that fears no one and implements the commands of Allah on earth,” Kabul-based journalist WA Mubariz posted on X.
Richard Bennett, UN Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, took to X to condemn the execution. “Public executions are inhumane, a cruel and unusual punishment, and contrary to international law,” he said, urging the Taliban to halt public executions and retribution killings immediately. An Afghan women’s rights activist, Golchehrah Yaftali, said that the “Taliban have turned Afghanistan into an exhibition of brutality”. This is not justice.
Read Also : Pak Sends Expired Food To Sri Lanka : Pakistan Under Fire For Sending Expired Flood Relief
-
-
-
-
