2 Executions Reported in Afghanistan

(USNewsBreak.com) – When President Joe Biden pulled US troops out of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban had already begun taking back power throughout the country. In the years since, reports indicate the country has gone backward from a human rights perspective by obliterating women’s rights and implementing Islamic law. Now, the country has reportedly carried out two public executions in front of many spectators.

On Thursday, February 22, the Taliban carried out two public executions in front of thousands of people at a stadium in Ghazni. Sources identified the two men killed as Syed Jamal and Gul Khan. The government previously convicted them of murder by stabbing their victims to death in two separate incidents. According to The Associated Press, it’s unclear whether these men actually stabbed the victims or if they were members of groups involved in the crimes. Three lower courts and Afghanistan’s supreme leader meted out the punishments.

The Taliban carried out a double public execution at a stadium in southeastern Afghanistan https://t.co/oiMGZTj4XP

— The Associated Press (@AP) February 22, 2024

Thousands of people clamored to get into the venue to watch the executions take place. The victims’ families were the ones who carried out the killings, shooting the men from behind, though it’s unclear what type of guns they used. They shot one of the convicts seven times and the other eight. Authorities took the bodies away by ambulance after.

After the executions, several organizations condemned the actions. Amnesty International, for one, demanded that the nation halt all executions, saying it “oppose[s] all executions as a violation of the right to life.” It also called on Afghanistan and the Taliban to end “the death penalty and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishments.” The United Nations was another organization calling for the same.

These two executions were reportedly the third and fourth to occur since the Taliban reclaimed control of the country. The first took place in December 2022, and the second occurred six months later, in June 2023.