Six Taliban members executed
Afghanistan on Sunday hanged six Taliban-linked inmates, the government said, in the first set of executions carried out as part of President Ashraf Ghani’s new hard-line policy against the insurgents.
Mr. Ghani carried out his threat to execute militants after an insurgent attack last month left 64 people dead in Kabul, in seemingly the deadliest attack on the Afghan capital since 2001.
Hanged in Kabul
The executions, the first endorsed by Mr. Ghani since he came to power in 2014, have dashed the last traces of hope of reviving Taliban peace talks that broke down last summer. “In accordance with the Afghan Constitution… Ghani approved the execution of six terrorists who perpetrated grave crimes against civilians and public security,” the presidential palace said in a statement.
Five Taliban inmates and one from the Taliban-allied Haqqani network were executed in Kabul’s Pule Charkhi prison, Afghanistan’s spy agency said, releasing their photographs.
Most of them were convicted of militant strikes across Afghanistan, including one charged with facilitating the 2011 assassination of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
KABUL: After months of failed Pakistani efforts to broker peace talks with the Taliban, a US drone strike against the Read more
With two back-to-back high-profile visits by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani (September 14-15) and Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda (September 15-18) this Read more
American diplomat Zalmay Khalilzad's grim assessment of the peace process in Afghanistan coincides with the progress made by the Taliban Read more
Ashraf Ghani arrived in Mazar when the Taliban captured Faizabad overnight, making it the ninth city to be invaded since Read more
