Taliban conducts double public execution in Afghanistan

On Thursday (February 22), a double public execution was carried out by the Taliban at a stadium in southeastern Afghanistan, witnessed by thousands.

The two executed men, identified as Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni, were convicted for the stabbing deaths of two victims in separate incidents, as per a court statement by the Taliban’s Supreme Court.

The statement also revealed that the executions were ordered by three lower courts and the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada. Despite pleas for forgiveness from religious scholars, the victims' relatives refused to pardon the convicts.

Ghazni police spokesman, Abu Abu Khalid Sarhadi, confirmed that the victims' relatives executed the convicts. The executions commenced shortly before 1 pm with 15 bullets fired, eight at one man and seven at the other. Their bodies were later transported away by ambulances.

These killings marked the third and fourth public executions since the Taliban took control in 2021 following the disordered withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan.

The United Nations has strongly condemned the Taliban's public executions, lashings, and stonings, urging Afghanistan’s rulers to cease such practices. The Taliban, during their previous rule in the late 1990s, frequently conducted public executions, floggings, and stonings.