David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Taliban executes couple trying to elope, say local officials
CBC News
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Taliban publicly executed a young Afghan couple for trying to elope, local officials in the southwestern province of Nimroz said Tuesday.
A council of clerics in the remote district of Khash Rod ruled the couple were guilty of immoral acts and should be killed, said Ghulam Dastagir Azad, the governor of the province.
The woman, 19, and man, 21, were shot with AK-47 rifles in front of a crowd, said Sadiq Chakhansori, the chief of the Nimroz provincial council.
According to Chakhansori, the couple left their homes in a bid to reach Iran, but their parents sent villagers after them. They were later turned over to the Taliban, or the militants came to take them by force, said reports from the region.
The Afghan government has no access to the remote region where the two were shot and killed, said Jabar Pardeli, the provincial police chief of Nimroz.
In remote and dangerous regions of Afghanistan, Taliban fighters operate what are sometimes referred to as shadow governments, where militant leaders serve as government officials and run their own police units and pseudo court systems.
The Taliban, an extreme conservative movement that clamped down harshly on women and ruled the country from 1996-2001, are gaining more influence in remote parts of Afghanistan.
Nimroz is west of Kandahar province ? separated by Helmand province ? where roughly 2,800 Canadians soldiers are serving as part of a NATO-led mission.
CBC News
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The Taliban publicly executed a young Afghan couple for trying to elope, local officials in the southwestern province of Nimroz said Tuesday.
A council of clerics in the remote district of Khash Rod ruled the couple were guilty of immoral acts and should be killed, said Ghulam Dastagir Azad, the governor of the province.
The woman, 19, and man, 21, were shot with AK-47 rifles in front of a crowd, said Sadiq Chakhansori, the chief of the Nimroz provincial council.
According to Chakhansori, the couple left their homes in a bid to reach Iran, but their parents sent villagers after them. They were later turned over to the Taliban, or the militants came to take them by force, said reports from the region.
The Afghan government has no access to the remote region where the two were shot and killed, said Jabar Pardeli, the provincial police chief of Nimroz.
In remote and dangerous regions of Afghanistan, Taliban fighters operate what are sometimes referred to as shadow governments, where militant leaders serve as government officials and run their own police units and pseudo court systems.
The Taliban, an extreme conservative movement that clamped down harshly on women and ruled the country from 1996-2001, are gaining more influence in remote parts of Afghanistan.
Nimroz is west of Kandahar province ? separated by Helmand province ? where roughly 2,800 Canadians soldiers are serving as part of a NATO-led mission.
