Taliban authorities execute two convicted murderers in football stadium

Taliban authorities publicly executed two men convicted of murder in a football stadium in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Both men were executed by multiple gunshots to the back in Ghazni city after Supreme Court official Atiqullah Darwish read aloud a death warrant signed by Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada.

"These two people were convicted of the crime of murder... after two years of trial in the courts of the country, the order has been signed," Darwish said.

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Thousands of men had gathered in the stadium to witness the execution.

Families of the men's victims were present and asked if they wanted to grant the condemned a last-minute reprieve but they declined in both cases.