Hard Punishments Back In Afghanistan? Taliban Hang 4 Bodies On Crane In Herat, Call It 'Lesson' On Kidnappings

Some images on social media showed bloody bodies on the back of a pick-up truck, while a crane hoisting one man up.

(Image: AFP)

Herat: A day after a Taliban leader openly pitched for its hardline interpretation including executions and harsh punishments to return in Afghanistan, the group on Saturday hung the bodies of four kidnappers from cranes after killing them during a shootout in the western city of Herat.  

Herat province's deputy governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir told news agency AFP that corpses of four men were displayed in various public areas, saying that the killings were done to teach a 'lesson' that kidnapping will not be tolerated.

Some images on social media showed bloody bodies on the back of a pick-up truck, while a crane hoisting one man up.

In a video shared on social media, a man was seen being suspended from a crane at a major roundabout in Herat with a sign on his chest reading: "Abductors will be punished like this".

This is the first capital punishment conducted by the Taliban ever since it took control of Kabul last month. The act can be seen as a sign that the Islamist hardliners will follow measures similar to their regime in 1996. 

Muhajir told the news agency that security forces were informed that a businessman and his son had been abducted in the city on Saturday morning.

Police shut down the roads out of the city and the Taliban stopped the men at a checkpoint, where "an exchange of fire happened", he said.

"As a result of a few minutes of fighting, one of our Mujahideen was wounded and all four kidnappers were killed," Muhajir said in a recorded statement sent to AFP.

On Friday, Mullah Nooruddin Turabi, one of the founders of Taliban, said that the executions and harsh punishments will return soon in Afghanistan but will avoid the public show.

While speaking to Associated Press, he said that the executions and amputations will be back soon as the laws must be followed.

Turabi also said that cutting off of hands is very necessary for security adding that such punishments had a deterrent effect in the past. The Taliban leader also said that Cabinet was studying whether to do punishments in public and will "develop a policy."