Four men convicted of murder were executed today in packed stadiums in Afghanistan, bringing the number of public executions carried out since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 to 10, according to Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
A day earlier, local authorities urged officials and citizens to come and "take part in the event", while banning, as usual, all cameras and mobile phones to prevent the spread of photos.
Two men were executed in front of about 20,000 people gathered at a stadium in Qala i Naw, the capital of Badghis province in the northwestern part of the country, according to Islamic principle “qisas“ or blood revenge law, the Supreme Court of Afghanistan announced.
A third convict was executed in the city of Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province. In this case, the execution was also carried out publicly and in a crowded stadium.
A fourth person was executed in Farah, in the western part of the country, the Supreme Court said. The families of the murder victims were consulted on whether to pardon the convicts, but they refused to do so, the Supreme Court added.
In Qala and Nav, the execution gun was given to one person from each of the victims' families. They fired several shots at their relatives' killers, witnesses told AFP.
The execution order was signed by the Taliban's supreme leader, Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada, who lives in seclusion in Kandahar and rules the country by decree or order, the Supreme Court said in a statement. According to the same source, courts in different jurisdictions had previously reviewed the cases "very thoroughly and several times."