Taliban authorities in eastern Afghanistan executed a convicted murderer by gunfire at a sports stadium on Wednesday, their sixth public execution since their return to power.
The convicted man was shot in the chest with three bullets by a member of the victim’s family in front of thousands of spectators in Gardez, the capital of Paktia province.
The night before the execution, the governor’s office called on officials and residents to “attend this event” on social media.
“A murderer was sentenced to retaliation,” said a statement from the Supreme Court of Afghanistan, which named the convicted person as Mohammad Ayaz Asad.
The execution order was signed by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, the court said.
Afghans walk to a football stadium ahead of the public execution of a man by the Taliban in Gardez, Paktia province on November 13, 2024
Afghans gather at a football stadium ahead of the public execution of a man by the Taliban in Gardez, Paktia province on November 13, 2024
Afghans walk to a football stadium ahead of the public execution of a man by the Taliban in Gardez, Paktia province on November 13, 2024
The convict was already in custody before the Taliban came to power for killing another man, Habibullah Saif-ul-Qatal, while the case was “under very careful and repeated investigation” by three military courts, the statement said.
The victim’s family was offered the opportunity to delay the execution, but they refused, the statement said.
Among the crowd at the execution were senior officials, including Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Public executions were common during the Taliban’s first rule from 1996 to 2001, but only a handful have been carried out since their return to power in August 2021.
In 2022, Akhundzada ordered judges to fully implement all aspects of the Taliban government’s interpretation of Islamic law – including “eye for an eye” punishments known as “qisas”, which allowed for the death penalty in retaliation for the crime of murder.
In February, three public executions took place within a week.
The night before the execution, the governor’s office called on officials and residents to “attend this event” on social media
Two men were executed by multiple gunshots to the back in front of a large crowd in the eastern city of Ghazni, followed days later by a similar public execution in the northern province of Jowzjan.
Corporal punishment – mainly flogging – was common among Taliban authorities and was used for crimes such as theft, adultery and alcohol consumption.
Law and order are central to the Taliban’s strict ideology, which emerged from the chaos of a civil war following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989.
One of the most infamous images from that era depicted the 1999 execution of a woman wearing an all-covering burqa in a stadium in Kabul. She was accused of killing her husband.
The United Nations and rights groups such as Amnesty International have condemned the Taliban government’s use of corporal punishment and the death penalty.
According to Amnesty, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United States were respectively the most prolific practitioners of the death penalty in the world in 2022.