The Taliban announced today that they carried out the public execution of a man convicted of murder in Farah Province. Civilian eyewitness reported that personal cell phones were seized by Taliban militants in order to suppress the spread of the news.
This is the first public execution since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August of 2021. While firing squad and hanging were legal capital punishment methods under the coalition-backed Afghanistan government from 2002-2022, this public shooting was not. This may be an indicator of a return to public floggings, stoning, and amputation which defined the Sharia Law governed Taliban rule from 1996-2001.
The Taliban announcement reads below:
The execution took place in Farah province and was witnessed by hundreds of spectators and many top Taliban officials. According to Zabihullah Mujahid, the top Taliban government spokesman, spectators from Kabul made the trip as well.
The decision to carry out the punishment was “made very carefully,” Mujahid said, following approval by three of the country’s highest courts and the Taliban supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada.
