Taliban flogs and executes pregnant woman

35 year old pregnant widow Bibi Sanubar was publicly flogged and then executed by the Taliban in Afghanistan on Sunday.

The Afghan woman was accused of having had an "illicit affair" which left her pregnant. She was kept in captivity for three days, punished with 200 lashes in public, and was then shot three times in the head.

Taliban commander Mohammad Yousuf is said to have carried out the execution before the woman's body was dumped in an area under government control.

A Taliban spokesman on Monday denied that the militia was responsible for Sanubar's death:
"We have not done anything like that in Badghis or any other province" said Qari Yosuf Ahmadi. He called the report "propaganda" by foreigners and the Western-backed Afghan government.

The execution has been confirmed by Mohammad Nasir Nazaari, head of Badghis provincial council. He said the Qadis district, where the execution was carried out, was entirely under Taliban control.

Since their ouster in 2001, hardline Taliban militants have executed many people accused of spying for foreign forces, including children as young as 7 or 8, and another woman, a mother of five, whose death has been watched by millions after secret film of her publicly being dragged out, forced to kneel and shot in the head was leaked.

Abdul Qadir Rahimi, head of the Afgan Independant Human Rights Commission in western Afghanistan, condemned Sunday's killing:

"Any such trial is unacceptable and is a violation of human rights. All trials must take place in an authorised court observing every single measure of justice."

Any execution is a violation of human rights, I believe. But this... If this is what the world has come to, we ought to hang our heads in shame.