The Taliban carried out the first officially confirmed public execution since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021. According to Reuters, a man accused of murdered was executed in western part of the country and it was confirmed by an official spokesperson of the government.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said that the accused stabbed another man in 2017 in the Farah province and the execution was attended by various senior officials of the Taliban.
The official statement also stated that the execution was carried out by the father of the victim.
Public executions and lashings were quite common during the Taliban’s previous regime, but this is the first time that it was recorded in recent times. In the past few months, the supreme court in Afghanistan has sentenced various men and women to public lashings for committing adultery.
The case that led to the public execution was heard in three separate courts and was approved by the Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader. The spokesperson said that the people who attended the execution included the acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, the chief justice, acting foreign minister and acting education minister.
The Taliban’s supreme spiritual leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has instructed the courts around the country to announce similar punishments for offences in accordance with Sharia law. This came after the United Nations urged Afghanistan to immediately stop executions or public floggings.
