Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder today by machine-gunning them through the back in front of a crowd of spectators.
How it Happened
Both men were executed by multiple gunshots to the back in Ghazni city after Supreme Court official Atiqullah Darwish read aloud a death warrant signed by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.
‘These two people were convicted of the crime of murder… after two years of trial in the courts of the country, the order has been signed,’ Darwish said.
Thousands of men gathered in the stadium to witness the execution.
Family Members Were Present
Families of the convicted men’s victims were present and were asked if they wanted to grant the condemned a last-minute reprieve but they declined.
Briefing on The Taliban Administration
The Taliban administration in Kabul has not been officially recognised by any other government since it took power in 2021 and imposed an austere interpretation of Islam.
What is Gisas?
Akhundzada ordered judges in 2022 to fully implement all aspects of Islamic law – including ‘eye for an eye’ punishments known as ‘qisas’.
Thursday’s executions are believed to be the third and fourth death penalties meted out since the Taliban authorities returned to power.
The first two had also been convicted of murder.
There have been regular public floggings for other crimes, however, including theft, adultery and alcohol consumption.
The previous execution was carried out in June 2023, when a convicted murderer was shot dead in the grounds of a mosque in Laghman province in front of some 2,000 people.
