A 13-year-old boy executed a man found guilty of killing his family in front of a cheering crowd in Afghanistan, in a chilling detail revealed after the event.
The public execution, echoing the worst days of Taliban rule, was of a man who the Supreme Court ruled had killed 13 members of the same family, including nine children and their mother.
About 80,000 people, including relatives of the victims, attended the execution in the sports stadium in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday. The Supreme Court said it was the 11th carried out since the Taliban seized power in 2021, in the wake of the chaotic withdrawal of US and Nato forces.
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According to independent broadcaster Amu TV, Taliban officials first asked the 13-year-old whether he wished to pardon the convicted man.
When the boy refused, he was handed a weapon and carried out the execution by shooting the man three times while some in the crowd shouted: “Allahu akbar”.
United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan Richard Bennet posted on social media earlier on Tuesday that reports had suggested the public execution was imminent and called for it to be halted.
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