Taliban stage public execution in North Waziristan

Taliban stage public execution in North Waziristan

Staff Report

MIRANSHAH: The local Taliban staged the public execution of an alleged killer near the North Waziristan headquarters on Friday.

The man who was executed, Ehsanullah, had allegedly killed two other men, and was shot by the victims’ relatives. “The man was shot with AK-47 assault rifles by relatives of the murdered men,” said eyewitnesses in Ipi, a town near Mir Ali where the execution was carried out.

Ehsanullah had been accused of killing two men on June 22 and the matter was brought to the Taliban’s notice. Eyewitnesses said that the Taliban had “arrested” the man and had asked the victims’ relatives to kill him in public.

“The militants blindfolded him and tied his hands together, dragged him to a public area in the village and gave assault rifles and three bullets to one of the relatives of each of the dead,” the eyewitnesses said. “The sound of the gunshot echoed in the area, as people chanted ‘Allahu Akbar’ (God is great).”

Senior elders told Daily Times that Friday’s execution was first of its kind in North Waziristan, where the Taliban’s influence was spreading despite the presence of large contingents of the army.

“Real Talibanisation has now begun,” a senior teacher of a government school in Mir Ali said in reaction to the killing.

Agencies add: The families of the victims had refused compensation or “blood money” in exchange for pardoning the accused, opting instead to have him executed.

Separately, a religious leader Pir Lala Khan was shot dead and three others were injured in Spinkai Raghzai village in neighbouring South Waziristan tribal district, a security official said.

It was not immediately clear who had killed Khan, but similar killings have been blamed on pro-Taliban militants.