Afghanistan: Couple stoned for adultery

STRAITS TIMES

KABUL (Afghanistan) – TALEBAN militants in northern Afghanistan stoned a young couple to death for adultery, which a rights group said was the first confirmed use of the punishment here since the hardline Islamist regime was ousted in 2001.

The Taleban-ordered killing comes at a time when international rights groups have raised worries that attempts to negotiate with the Taleban to bring peace to Afghanistan could mean a step backward for human rights in the country. When the Islamist extremists ruled Afghanistan, women were not allowed to leave their houses without a male guardian, and public killings for violations of their harsh interpretation of the Quran were common.

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