Afghanistan Executes Four Men Publicly in Single Day Across Three Provinces

Afghanistan carried out the public executions of four men on Friday, marking the highest number of executions in a single day since the Taliban reclaimed power in 2021, the country’s Supreme Court confirmed.

The executions took place across three separate provinces, including Badghis, where two men were shot multiple times in a football stadium in Qala-i-Naw by male relatives of their victims, according to eyewitnesses.

“They were made to sit and turn their backs to us. Then relatives of the victims stood behind and shot them,” Mohammad Iqbal Rahimyar, a local resident who witnessed the execution, told AFP.

The court said the men had been sentenced to “retaliatory punishment” after being convicted of murder. It emphasized that the cases were “examined very precisely and repeatedly” before the sentences were enforced.

The families of the victims reportedly refused to offer clemency, opting instead for retribution under Islamic law. “If the family of the victim had forgiven the men it would be better, otherwise it’s God’s order, and should be implemented,” a man named Zabihullah told AFP outside the stadium.

Since 2021, ten men have now been executed publicly under Taliban rule, according to an AFP tally. Public executions were also a hallmark of the Taliban’s first regime between 1996 and 2001, often carried out in sports arenas.