AFGHANISTAN: TALIBAN PUBLICLY EXECUTE MAN CONVICTED OF MURDER IN BADGHIS

October 18, 2025:

The Taliban on October 16, 2025 publicly executed a man convicted of murder in northwestern Afghanistan, marking the 11th such execution since the group’s return to power in 2021, according to the Taliban’s Supreme Court.
In a statement, the court said the man, identified as Ismail, was convicted of fatally shooting a man and a woman, Dost Mohammad and Gulbarga, in Jawand district of Badghis province.
The statement added that the verdict was upheld by three Taliban-run courts and reviewed by the group’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, before final approval.
The court said that the families of the victims were offered the opportunity to forgive the perpetrator in exchange for reconciliation, but after they refused, the order for qisas, or retributive justice, was carried out.
The execution took place on October 16, at the Badghis provincial stadium in front of a crowd of local residents, the statement said.
According to the Taliban, the event was conducted in line with Islamic law. However, international rights groups and the United Nations have repeatedly condemned public executions and other corporal punishments under the Taliban as violations of international human rights standards.
The United Nations has called on the Taliban to impose an immediate moratorium on the death penalty, warning that such punishments are inconsistent with Afghanistan’s obligations under international law.
The Taliban maintain that such measures are legitimate under their strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law and accuse critics of misrepresenting religious principles.
October 16 execution was the second carried out publicly in Badghis since the Taliban seized power. Previous executions have taken place in the provinces of Farah, Ghazni, Laghman, Jawzjan, Badghis, and Nimroz, often witnessed by large crowds under the supervision of local Taliban officials.
Public executions, floggings, and amputations have re-emerged across Afghanistan over the past four years, reflecting the Taliban’s return to the harsh justice practices that characterized their rule in the 1990s, despite widespread international condemnation.