KABUL // A video showing the public execution of a 22-year-old woman accused of adultery in Afghanistan has been condemned by the government as un-Islamic and inhuman.
The video shows her being shot repeatedly in the back in front of a crowd of men in Qol village in Parwan province just north of the capital Kabul.
The woman, named as Najiba, was married to a member of a Taliban militant group and was accused of adultery with a Taliban commander, said Roshna Khalid, a Parwan provincial spokeswoman, yesterday.
"Within one hour they decided that she was guilty and sentenced her to death. They shot her in front of villagers in her village, Qol," she said, adding that the execution took place late last month.
Following the shooting a villager handed the video over to the provincial government and "the security forces are preparing a big operation to find the culprits", she said.
The video opens with the woman, wrapped in a grey shawl, sitting at the edge of a ditch in a village surrounded by dozens of men, some perched on rooftops for a better view.
As she sits with her back to the crowd a man is seen reading verses from the Quran condemning adultery, before saying: "We cannot forgive her, God tells us to finish her. Juma Khan, her husband, has the right to kill her." The video then shows a man in white being handed an AK-47 rifle.
