WUNRN
16
August 2010
"They stoned them because they were accused of
adultery. There was a big crowd of people who watched.''
Afghanistan
- "Adulterous" Couple Stoned & Killed in Public
A man and a woman who allegedly had an adulterous affair have been stoned and killed in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz.
The punishment happened in a crowded bazaar on Sunday in the Taliban-controlled village of Mullah Quli.
The Taliban have not commented on the public killing, but it was confirmed by local officials and witnesses.
This month the Taliban also reportedly flogged and killed a pregnant widow in western Baghdis province.
"We were also asked to throw stones, the woman was dead but the man was still alive. Some Taliban shot him three times ”
End Quote Villager Mullah Quli
Mohammad
Ayub, the governor of Imam Sahib district in Kunduz, told the BBC on Monday:
"The Taliban brought them to the local bazaar."
"They stoned them because they were accused of adultery. There was a big crowd of people who watched.''
Two witnesses from Mullah Quli told the BBC that the Taliban asked the villagers to attend the stoning through an announcement on loudspeakers in the mosque.
"There was a big crowd of people," one witness said. "The Taliban made the women wear black clothes and the men were made to stand. The Taliban started throwing stones.
"We were also asked to throw stones. After a while, the Taliban left. The woman was dead but the man was still alive.
"Some Taliban then came and shot him three times. The Taliban warned villagers if anyone does anything un-Islamic, this will be their fate.''
'Climate of fear'
A Kunduz-based official with the Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, confirmed the account.
He told the BBC: "It shows that they [the Taliban] want to create a climate of fear."
According to news agency AFP, the woman was 23 years old and the man was 28.
A local tribal elder told the BBC that the couple had eloped and that the woman had been engaged, while the man was already married.
A jirga (tribal council) met and decided that the couple could come back to the village if the man paid compensation.
"The man returned after he was assured that he wouldn't be harmed," said the elder. "The Taliban arrested them as soon as they came back.''
Ahmad Nader Nadery, of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, told the BBC: "This is a big crime committed by the Taliban, an extra-judicial killing. It shows their cruelty.''
The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says Kunduz is a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaeda militants where the central government has little control.
The Taliban operates a shadow government, consisting of judges, tax collectors, district governors and commanders, in several parts of Kunduz, he adds.