In southeastern Afghanistan, the Taliban conducted a public execution at a stadium on Thursday. Two men, Syed Jamal from central Wardak province and Gul Khan from Ghazni, were executed for their alleged involvement in separate stabbing incidents that resulted in the deaths of two victims. It remains unclear whether the convicted men or others committed the stabbings.
The Taliban's Supreme Court, along with three lower courts and the supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, ordered the executions as retribution for the purported crimes. Despite pleas from religious scholars and crowds gathered outside the stadium in Ghazni, the victims' relatives chose not to forgive the convicts.
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Relatives of the victims carried out the executions, firing a total of 15 bullets – eight at one man and seven at the other. The incident marked the third and fourth public executions since the Taliban took control in 2021 after the withdrawal of US and NATO forces.
The United Nations has criticised the Taliban for their public executions, lashings, and stonings, urging them to halt such practices. During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban regularly carried out public punishments in Afghanistan.
