Taliban Order Child to Kill Man as 80,000 Cheer Execution

A massive sports arena filled with 80,000 spectators became the stage for a Taliban-orchestrated public execution, where a 13-year-old boy was forced to shoot the individual responsible for killing 13 of his relatives.

Footage circulating on the internet captured the scene in the eastern city of Khost on Tuesday, displaying thousands of cheering onlookers crowded into the venue for a display the United Nations condemned as “inhumane” and “contrary to international law.”

The teenager was directed to fatally shoot Mangal, the convicted murderer, as part of a Sharia-law “retaliation punishment” known as Qisas, which is akin to the mistaken, literal rendering of an “eye for an eye.”

Regarding the sentencing, “The family of the victim was offered the option of forgiveness and retaliation, but … they refused and insisted on Qisas,” the Supreme Court of Afghanistan said in a statement on social media.

While official statements did not specify the executioner’s identity, reports from the Afghan news source AMU TV indicate it was a 13-year-old male relative of the victims who killed the man.

The court further noted that Mangal’s two sons face imminent execution for aiding their father; however, their sentences have been postponed to allow additional family members of the victims to return to the area to witness the event.
This event marks the 11th such public execution conducted since the Taliban reasserted control in 2021 following the disastrous withdrawal of US forces that left 13 troops dead. According to AMU TV, the presence of 80,000 spectators made this the most attended execution to date.
Following the killing, “prayers were made for the strengthening of the national security, for the people’s better access to their legitimate rights, and for the proper implementation of Islamic Sharia throughout the country,” the supreme court claimed.

Prior to the event, Richard Bennet, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, had issued a plea for the proceedings to be halted.
Voicing his opposition on X, he stated, “Public executions are inhumane, a cruel and unusual punishment, and contrary to international law.”

The killing reflects the practices of the Taliban’s earlier regime in the late 1990s, during which time they frequently presided over public executions, floggings, and stonings.