A 13-year-old boy has publicly executed a convicted murderer in front of a crowd of 80,000 people at a sports stadium in Afghanistan, in a stark echo of the Taliban's previous brutal rule.
A Grisly Act of Retribution
The execution took place on December 2, 2025, in Khost province. The teenager fired three shots to kill the condemned man, identified as Mangal, who had been found guilty by the Supreme Court of a horrific crime. The court ruled that Mangal, along with an accomplice, entered a family home in Khost and shot dead 13 members of the same family. The victims included nine children and their mother.
Under the Taliban's interpretation of Sharia law, the victims' relatives were offered the chance to forgive the perpetrator, which would have spared his life. The family instead chose to demand the death penalty. The teenage boy, a relative of the victims, was chosen to carry out the sentence. As he fired, sections of the massive crowd were heard shouting 'Allahu Akbar'.
Public Spectacle and Taliban Justice
The Taliban authorities, who retook power in Afghanistan in 2021, had banned all camera phones from the stadium to control imagery of the event. This execution was the 12th public execution since the Taliban's return. A resident of Khost, Mujib Rahman Rahmani, who was present, defended the act, suggesting such spectacles could 'prove to be positive' as a deterrent.
Public executions, floggings, and stonings were commonplace during the Taliban's first rule in the late 1990s. Their return has signalled a harsh crackdown, particularly on women's rights, but also a reinstatement of severe corporal and capital punishment in public settings.
International Condemnation and Historical Context
The execution drew immediate condemnation from international human rights observers. United Nations' Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, Richard Bennet, posted on X that public executions are 'inhumane, a cruel and unusual punishment, and contrary to international law'. He had called for the execution to be halted after reports suggested it was imminent.
The Taliban's use of public executions has been documented since their return:
- December 7, 2022: Taj Mir executed in Farah province for murder.
- November 13, 2024: A murderer executed by gunfire in Khost province.
- April 11, 2025: Four men publicly executed across three provinces (Badghis, Nimroz, and Farah) for murder.
- December 2, 2025: Mangal executed in Khost, as described.
This system of justice forms part of a wider tapestry of repression under the current regime, which includes bans on secondary and university education for Afghan women and girls, and their exclusion from most forms of employment.
