Taliban stage public execution in NW Pakistan after convicting man of murder

Taliban stage public execution in NW Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — The Pakistani Taliban staged a public execution in front of hundreds of tribesmen in the country’s northwest Tuesday after an Islamic court convicted the man of killing two brothers, intelligence officials and a local resident said.

The execution illustrated the level of militant control in North Waziristan, a tribal area along the Afghan border that the U.S. has long pushed Pakistan to target. Many Islamist militants use North Waziristan as a base to launch attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.

The man who was executed Tuesday was caught by the Taliban minutes after he killed the brothers two weeks ago in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan, said intelligence officials.

A Taliban court convicted him of murder and sentenced him to death, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

After the ruling, the Taliban paraded the man onto a soccer field in Miran Shah surrounded by hundreds of tribesmen, said local resident Khan Ameer. As the Taliban watched, a brother of the slain men shot the convicted murderer six times, he said.

Taliban in both Pakistan and Afghanistan enforce a strict form of Islamic law and often carry out public executions to demonstrate their power and warn local residents to obey their rules.

The Pakistani government has launched several offensives in the northwest to counter Taliban control. But it has been reluctant to target North Waziristan, saying the military is already stretched thin by ongoing operations.

Many analysts suspect the government is also hesitant because it doesn’t want to cross Afghan Taliban fighters in the area with whom it has historic ties and who have focused their attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan, not against the Pakistani state.

They contend these militants could serve as useful allies for Pakistan if the Taliban are able to re-establish some level of control in Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw.