Taliban authorities publicly execute man for double murder in public stadium

Thursday, October 16, 2025 - Taliban authorities publicly executed a man in western Afghanistan on Thursday, October 16. 

The man, who had been convicted of two murders, was executed in front of crowds at a sports stadium in Qala-I-Naw, the capital of Badghis province, the Supreme Court said in a statement. 

The execution brought to 11 the number of men publicly put to de@th since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, according to an AFP tally. 

The man was shot three times by a relative of the victims in front of thousands of onlookers; witnesses told an AFP journalist in the city. 

The man had been “sentenced to retaliatory punishment” for shooting a man and a woman, the court statement said, after his case had been “examined very precisely and repeatedly”. 

“The families of the victims were offered amnesty and peace but they refused,” it said. 

Afghans had been invited to attend the execution in official notices shared widely on Wednesday, Oct. 15.