The Taliban have publicly executed two men in Qala-e-Naw, the capital of Badghis province, another man in Nimruz province, and a man in Farah, in swift retribution for their alleged crimes, according to local authorities.
In statements from the Taliban’s Supreme Court, a resident of Badghis’ Tagab Alam district Sulaiman, son of Mohammad Rasul, was convicted on Friday of shooting dead three men: Ghulam Nabi, son of Mohammad, Eidi Gul, son of Ghulam Nabi, and Zaragul, son of Sharafatuddin.
Meanwhile, a resident of Badghis’ Darah-Boom district, Haidar, son of Majnoon, was found guilty of killing Mohammad Shah, son of Mohammaduddin, using a Kalashnikov rifle, and sentenced to death.
In Nimruz’s capital city Zaranj, resident Abdul Qadir, son of Abdul Rahman, was convicted of murdering fellow Zaranj resident Farahuddin, son of Nasruddin, and would be executed the following day, the documents said.
The Supreme Court said the execution orders were based on rulings from three levels of the Taliban judicial system – primary, appellate, and supreme courts – and were approved by the Taliban’s leader.
The public were invited to attend the executions, which were announced the day before they were carried out.
An execution also took place in Farah province on Friday, according to a court statement posted to X (formerly Twitter). It said that a resident of Farah’s Shib Koh district, Mohammad Sadiq, son of Haji Abdul Rahman, had killed Bismillah, son of Haji Ahmad, from the same district, using a knife.
The post stated that Mohammad Sadiq was executed in the presence of local officials, military personnel, and residents of Qala-e-Naw, in the provincial sports stadium.
Since retaking power in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s return to swift, public executions have raised serious concerns among human rights organizations due to fears of undue process and court proceedings.
Public executions were also a common practice during the group’s first regime from 1996 to 2001.
