Taliban Execution: 13-Year-Old Boy Shoots Family’s Killer Before 80,000 Spectators in Afghanistan”
“A 13-year-old boy publicly executed a convicted mass murderer before 80,000 spectators in Afghanistan’s Khost province, marking one of the Taliban’s most dramatic public punishments since 2021. The event sparked global condemnation, including from the United Nations.”
A man convicted of murder was publicly executed on Tuesday (Dec 2) in eastern Afghanistan. What turned into eyeballs was the fact that the execution was carried out by a 13-year-old boy whose family was killed by the man. The man, identified as Mangal, was executed in front of a crowd at a sports stadium in Khost of almost 80,000 people. The execution brought to 12 the number of men publicly put to death since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, according to an AFP tally.
Three gunshots rang out inside a packed cricket stadium in Afghanistan’s Khost province, triggering loud cheers from tens of thousands of spectators as a 13-year-old boy carried out the execution of a convicted mass murderer — a chilling reminder of the Taliban’s harshest era of justice.
The execution, witnessed by an estimated 80,000 people, was sanctioned by the Taliban-run Supreme Court. Authorities said the condemned man had been found guilty — along with an accomplice — of breaking into a family home and killing 13 relatives, including nine children and their mother.
Under the Taliban’s interpretation of qisas, or retributive justice, the victims’ family members were given the option to grant forgiveness. They declined and instead demanded the death penalty. The ruling was upheld at every judicial level, including approval by the Taliban’s supreme leader.
According to witnesses, the boy — a relative of the victims — fired “three shots” at the convicted man as parts of the crowd chanted “Allahu Akbar.” A resident, Mujib Rahman Rahmani, who attended the execution, said such punishments could “prove to be positive,” arguing that “no one will dare to kill anyone in the future.”
Although Taliban authorities banned camera phones at the stadium, images later circulated on social media showing crowds queueing to enter the venue, with thousands more stranded outside after capacity was reached. This marks at least the 11th public execution since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
During their previous rule in the late 1990s, the Taliban became notorious for staging public executions, amputations, floggings and stonings. Their resurgence has reintroduced strict interpretations of Sharia law along with sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on secondary education, university studies and most forms of employment.
While public floggings have become increasingly routine, Wednesday’s execution drew renewed global condemnation.
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, wrote on X that reports of the planned execution had been circulating hours earlier, urging authorities to halt the process. “Public executions are inhumane, a cruel and unusual punishment, and contrary to international law,” he said.
Despite international appeals, the execution proceeded, attracting families who travelled long distances to witness the event, ultimately turning the killing into a stark public spectacle.
