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Unarmed Afghanistan woman gunned down while crowd cheers
By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
July 10th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
July 10th, 2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
In a shocking video smuggled out of Afghanistan, an unarmed burqa-clad
woman is shot to death by a man as a crowd behind her shouts "God is
great!" The 22-year-old woman, only identified as Najiba is repeatedly
shot by the man long after she falls over dead in a sequence that is
difficult to watch.
The woman is reputed to have been married to a member of a hard-line Taliban militant group and was killed after being accused of adultery with a Taliban commander.
Scenes of the rifle-wielding gunman shooting the woman in the head and back execution-style took place in Qimchok village, in Afghanistan's Parwan province.
Najiba is seen sitting at the edge of a ditch wearing a grey veil; in the right hand corner a man seem to be filming something out of frame. A man wearing white clothes and an orange beret appears pointing an AK47 rifle at her. He then opens fire at Najiba as she sits with her back towards him.
Najiba then slumps to the floor, as dozens of men on a nearby hillside cheer, "God is great!"
The unidentified assassin then continues to shoot her dead body whilst walking towards it.
Officials in Afghanistan said the killing came about due to a dispute between two Taliban members, who had argued over the woman.
Parwan province governor Abdul Basir Salangi told CNN that as both Taliban men "had some kind of relationship with the woman," and chose to accuse her of adultery in order to "save face."
With a look of satisfaction, the executioner walks away from her dead body. The harrowing images came from an undated video, although it is thought the Afghanistan execution took place some time in late June.
The video was handed over by a Qol villager to the Parwan provincial government. For what it is worth, it's believed that both Taliban commanders have subsequently been executed.
The video has been condemned by the Afghan government as un-Islamic and inhuman.
Public executions of alleged adulterers were common when the Taliban regime was in power. The Taliban were in control of Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001, when they were ousted by a U.S.-led invasion for harboring Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks.
© 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.