KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Feb 13 (AFP) - Thousands of spectators Sunday gathered in a dusty soccer field to watch a 10-year-old boy execute his father's murderer and a highway robber have a hand and foot chopped off.
The boy, accompanied by two women and another younger boy, rushed to the murderer, who was made to sit close to the goal.
A soldier from the ruling Taliban militia held the assault rifle for the boy and helped him shoot three shots into the back and head of the convict while the spectators watched quietly.
"Mohammad Hashem, resident of Nesh district (Kandahar) who had recently killed Khaleq Dad, also from Nesh, has been sentenced to death," announced one Taliban official. "He is executed after the approval of Amir-ul-Momenin by the victim's heir," he said.
Minutes before, two surgeons in black uniforms and black masks surgically removed the hand and foot of Daud Shah, a man accused of highway robbery.
"Daud Shah is given Islamic Sharia punishment publicly and his right hand and left foot are chopped off," the official said through a loudspeaker mounted on a military jeep.
The Taliban Supreme Leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, who is referred to as Amir-ul-Momenin, or prince of the faithful, had also approved the sentence.
The Taliban movement rules most of Afghanistan, including the capital Kabul, and follows a strict interpretation of the Islamic Sharia law.
"You should take lessons and be grateful that you live under an Islamic government," an elderly cleric announced to the all-male onlookers through a loudspeaker he was carrying around his neck.
Kandahar, a city destroyed during the Soviet occupation of 1979-1989, is the home and base of the Taliban movement, which is still locked in fighting with its rival northern alliance.
