Taliban publicly executes 2 murder convicts in stadium

Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on February 22, according to an AFP journalist at the scene, Report informs.

Both men were executed by multiple gunshots to the back in Ghazni city after Supreme Court official Atiqullah Darwish read aloud a death warrant signed by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

"These two people were convicted of the crime of murder... after two years of trial in the courts of the country, the order has been signed," Darwish said.

Thousands of men gathered in the stadium to witness the execution.

Families of the convicted men's victims were present and asked if they wanted to grant the condemned a last-minute reprieve but they declined in both cases.

The Taliban administration in Kabul has not been officially recognized by any other government since it took power in 2021 and imposed an austere interpretation of Islam.

Akhundzada ordered judges in 2022 to fully implement all aspects of Islamic law -- including "eye for an eye" punishments known as "qisas."

Islamic law, or sharia, acts as a code of living for Muslims worldwide, offering guidance on issues such as modesty, finance and crime.

However, interpretations vary according to local custom, culture and religious schools of thought.

Taliban scholars in Afghanistan have employed one of the most extreme interpretations of the code, including capital and corporal punishments little used by most modern Muslim states.