The new Taliban government in Afghanistan have executed and hanged the bodies of four men accused of kidnapping, to serve as a deterrent and lesson to others who might want to commit such crimes in the future.
The bodies of the men were found hung on Saturday from cranes in the Afghan western city of Herat, with a notice that it was a “lesson” for other abductors.
According to Herat Province’s Deputy Governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir, the corpses were displayed across several squares in the city on the same day as the Taliban wanted to teach a “lesson” to the abductors.
“In order to be a lesson for other kidnappers not to kidnap or harass anyone, we hung them in the squares of the city and made this clear to everyone that anyone who steals or abducts or does any action against our people will be punished,” Mujahir was quoted as saying.
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Muhajir said security forces were informed a businessman and his son had been abducted in the city on Saturday morning.
Police shut down the roads out of the city and the Taliban stopped the men at a checkpoint, where “an exchange of fire happened,” he said.
“As a result of a few minutes of fighting, one of our Mujahideen was wounded and all four kidnappers were killed.
“We are the Islamic Emirate. No one should harm our nation. No one should kidnap,” he said in the video clip.
Muhajir added that that before Saturday’s incident, there had been other kidnappings in the city, and the Taliban rescued a boy.
“One kidnapper was killed and three others were arrested,” he said, although in another case, the Taliban “failed and the abductors were able to make money”.
“It saddened us a lot because while we are in Herat, our people are being abducted,” Muhajir said.
“In order to be a lesson for other kidnappers not to kidnap or harass anyone, we hung them in the squares of the city and made this clear to everyone that anyone who steals or abducts or does any action against our people will be punished.”
“The aim of this action is to alert all criminals that they are not safe,” another Taliban commander who did not identify himself, was heard saying in an on-camera interview conducted in the square.
Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy on the edge of the square, said that the Taliban officials had announced that the four were caught taking part in a kidnapping earlier Saturday and were killed by police.
Ziaulhaq Jalali, a Taliban-appointed District Police Chief in Herat, said later that Taliban members rescued a father and son who had been abducted by four kidnappers after an exchange of gunfire. He said a Taliban fighter and a civilian were wounded by the kidnappers, and that the kidnappers were killed in crossfire.
Another video showed a man suspended from a crane at a major roundabout in Herat with a sign on his chest reading: “Abductors will be punished like this”.
On Friday, one of the leaders of the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, had said that cutting off of hands and executions are necessary and will be implemented by the regime as the laws must be followed.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Turabi, said that the executions and amputations will be back soon as the laws must be followed.
“Everyone criticized us for the punishments in the stadium, but we have never said anything about their laws and their punishments.
“No one will tell us what our laws should be. We will follow Islam and we will make our laws on the Quran. Cutting off of hands is very necessary for security,” he said.
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