The Taliban-controlled Supreme Court announced in a statement on Tuesday that a public execution, or qisas, will take place on Wednesday at the central stadium in the eastern province of Paktia.
The individual set to be executed has been convicted of murder, according to the court’s statement.
The Taliban’s announcement invited residents of Paktia to gather at the stadium to witness the execution. They have also prohibited cameras and mobile phones from the stadium grounds.
This will mark the latest instance of public punishment under Taliban rule since their return to power in August 2021.
In December 2022, Taliban held their first public execution since taking control of the country, carrying it out in Farah Province in the west of Afghanistan. That event was attended by at least ten Taliban officials and leaders.
In September, Taliban prison official Habibullah Badr confirmed in an interview with the Amu that among the 23,000 detainees in Taliban-run prisons, between 500 and 600 have been sentenced to death, and around 400 others are awaiting qisas sentences.
In November 2022, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree authorizing the enforcement of certain Sharia punishments, including public lashings, executions, and amputations.
Since then, the Taliban have carried out hundreds of public lashings across various provinces, with the first documented incident occurring in Takhar Province, where 19 men and women were lashed in November 2022.
