80,000 Afghans watch 13-year-old relative execute man accused of killing 13 of his family members

Afghanistan, under Taliban authorities, carried out a public execution of a man accused of killing 13 members of a family, including several children, at a stadium in Khost city on Tuesday.

This marks the 11th public execution in Kabul since the Taliban seized power in 2021 in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO forces.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have imposed a strict interpretation of Sharia law, which has included a return of public executions, as well as bans on Afghan women and girls from secondary school and university education and from most forms of employment.

About the public execution:

According to the Afghan reports, 80,000 people, including relatives of the victims – Abdul Rahman and his family, attended the execution of the accused Mangal Khan in the sports stadium.

According to a statement by the Supreme Court, the execution was ordered after a death sentence was passed down by a court, an appeals court and the top court itself, and approved by Afghanistan’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

The man was shot to death by a relative of those he was convicted of having killed, said Khost police spokesman Mustaghfir Gorbaz. According to Amu News, citing local sources, the relative who pulled the trigger is a 13-year-old boy.

The man had been convicted along with another of entering a family home in Khost province and shooting to death an extended family, including nine children and their mother, Gorbaz said.

The victims’ family refused forgiveness

The victims’ relatives had been offered the option of forgiveness and reconciliation that would have spared the man’s life, but instead requested the death penalty, the court said.

"The family of the victim was offered the option of forgiveness and reconciliation, but after they refused and insisted on Qisas, the order for the implementation of the divine ruling of Qisas was issued," read the statement posted on X.

United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennet posted on X earlier on Tuesday that reports had suggested the public execution was imminent and called for it to be halted.

“Public executions are inhumane, a cruel and unusual punishment, and contrary to international law,” he posted.

(With AP inputs)