Taliban makes 13-year-old boy execute killer before 80,000 crowd [View all]

Afghanistan’s Taliban made a 13-year-old carry out a public execution in front of thousands of onlookers, shooting a man who had killed more than a dozen members of the boy’s family.

An estimated 80,000 people gathered at a sports stadium in the southeastern province of Khost to witness the horrific spectacle, condemned by the UN as “inhuman and cruel”.


The convicted murderer, called Mangal, and two others had been found guilty of killing 13 members of the teenager’s family, including several children and women.

The killer was sentenced to ‘Qisas’ - a retaliation punishment under Sharia law similar to the Biblical principle of ‘an eye for an eye’.

The Supreme Court said the victims’ relatives were given the chance to forgive and reconcile – a move that would have spared the man’s life – but authorities said they instead insisted on the death penalty.

more...