The Taliban hold another public execution as thousands watch at a stadium in northern Afghanistan

By RAHIM FAIEZ
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban have held a public execution of a man convicted of murder in northern Afghanistan as thousands watched at a sports stadium. Monday’s death sentence was the third to be carried out publicly over the past five days. The execution took place in Shibirghan, the capital of northern Jawzjan province, where the brother of the murdered man shot the convict five times with a rifle. The development is ominous as the Taliban, despite initial promoses of a more moderate rule, began carrying out severe punishments — executions, floggings and stonings — shortly after coming to power in August 2021. The punishments are similar to those under their previous rule of Afghanistan in the late 1990s.