Witnessed By Thousands Of People, The Perpetrators Of The Murder Executed By The Taliban At The Stadium

UNSPLASH ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Afghan Taliban authorities carried out public executions at stadiums in the eastern Afghan city of Khost. The execution was carried out on a man who according to the Supreme Court had killed 13 family members, including several children, earlier this year.

Reportedly, thousands of people, including relatives of the victims, attended the execution at the sports stadium.

The Supreme Court said the execution was the 11th execution carried out since the Taliban seized power in 2021 following the withdrawal of chaotic US and NATO troops.

The United Nations (UN) Special Reporter for Afghanistan, Richard Bennet, posted a post on X on Tuesday, regarding reports showing public executions imminent and calling for the execution to be stopped.

"The persecution of the public is inhumane, is a cruel and unusual punishment, and is against international law," he wrote.

Taliban rulers in Afghanistan have implemented a strict interpretation of Sharia law, including the return of public executions, as well as a ban on Afghan women and girls to pursue secondary and university education, as well as most types of jobs.

According to a Supreme Court statement, the execution was ordered after the death penalty was handed down by the courts, appeal courts, and the high court itself, and was approved by Afghanistan's supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The man was convicted along with several other people for entering a family home in Khost Province and shooting dead a extended family, including nine children and their mother, Gorbaz said.

The victim's family has been offered a choice of pardon and reconciliation that will save the man's life, but instead they are asking for the death penalty, the court said.

During their previous administration in Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the Taliban regularly carried out public executions, whips, and seams.