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Taliban Executes Pregnant Woman in Afghanistan

   VOA News 09 August 2010
   Afghan Taliban (file photo)

Photo: AP

   Afghan Taliban (file photo)

   Afghan  police  say  Taliban  insurgents  have  flogged  and  publicly
   executed a pregnant Afghan widow for alleged adultery.
   Authorities  say  Taliban  militants  kept  the woman in captivity for
   three   days   before  her  execution  Sunday  in  a  remote  area  of
   northwestern  Badghis  province.   They say she was first flogged 200
   times and then shot in the head three times.  Â
   Officials  say a Taliban court had found the woman guilty of having an
   "illicit affair" that left her pregnant.
   Afghan  police say a local Taliban commander, Mohammad Yousuf, carried
   out  the  execution,  but  a  Taliban spokesman Monday denied that the
   group was responsible.
   The unidentified man who had the alleged affair with the widow has not
   been punished.
   NATO condemned the killing in a statement Monday.  The alliance said,
   in its words, the "tragic, gruesome brutality is an example of Taliban
   justice."
   During  the  Taliban's harsh six-year rule in Afghanistan, the radical
   Islamists would often stage public stonings or lashings of women found
   guilty of adultery.

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