A chilling scene unfolded in Afghanistan as tens of thousands gathered to witness the public execution of a man. Reports suggest that a 13- year-old was the one who pulled the trigger.
Nearly 80,000 people reportedly gathered in Khost province of Afghanistan to witness public execution of a man – reports claim that a 13-year-old boy was the one who pulled the trigger. According to local reports cited by Amu TV, “A public execution carried out by the Taliban in the eastern province of Khost on Tuesday was conducted by a 13-year-old boy.” The executed man had allegedly murdered members of the teenager’s family.
Reports reveal that, moments before the execution, Taliban officials turned to the victim’s young relative, a 13-year-old boy, and asked whether he wished to forgive the condemned man, identified as Abdul Rahman, son of Zabit. When the boy refused, the officials handed him a firearm and instructed him to deliver the fatal shots. He complied, firing at the man inside Khost’s central stadium as thousands looked on.
The Taliban had openly encouraged residents to witness, circulating public notices a day earlier to ensure maximum attendance.
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Meanwhile, the group’s supreme court offered a slightly different account, identifying the executed man as Mangal, son of Talah Khan. The court stated that he had been found guilty of murdering Abdul Rahman with a Kalashnikov rifle and was subsequently handed a “retaliatory punishment” after his case had been “thoroughly and repeatedly reviewed.”
“The families of the victims were offered amnesty and peace, but they refused,” the court added. Officials further noted that the case had moved through primary, appeals, and high courts before being approved by the Taliban’s leader.
The executed individual was originally from Sanjak village in Paktia’s Syed Karam district but had reportedly been residing in Khost’s Ali Shir and Terezio districts in recent years.