Afghan Taliban carries out first public execution since takeover

The Taliban administration has put to death a man accused of murder in western Afghanistan in the first officially confirmed public execution since the group took over the country last year.

The execution in western Farah province was of a man accused of stabbing another man to death in 2017, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday, and was attended by senior officials of the group.

The execution was carried out by the father of the victim, who shot the man three times, Mujahid added in a later statement.

The case was investigated by three courts and authorised by the group's supreme spiritual leader, who is based in southern Kandahar province, said Mujahid.

More than a dozen senior Taliban officials attended the execution, Mujahid said, including acting interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, and acting deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar, as well as the country's chief justice, acting foreign minister and acting education minister.

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Public lashings

It comes after the country's Supreme Court announced public lashings of men and women accused of offences such as robbery and adultery had taken place in several provinces in recent weeks, a possible return to practices common in its rule in the 1990s.

A spokesperson for the UN human rights office last month called on the Taliban authorities to immediately halt the use of public floggings in Afghanistan.

The Taliban's supreme spiritual leader met judges in November and said they should carry out such punishments.

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