Taliban militants publicly hanged a university student at Kabul Polytechnic University after accusing him of killing a senior intelligence officer.
The militia took Faizul Rehman, a fourth-year student, from his car as he traveled home on Thursday to visit his family in Maidan Wardak Province, which is about 60 km west of the capital Kabul.
"They accused him of killing Mullah Mirwais, the head of their intelligence in the area. They hanged him on Friday in front of [the] public. Local elders tried to mediate to release him, but they failed," Abdul Rehman Mangal, a spokesman for the governor of Maidan Wardak, told AFP news agency on Saturday.
The Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the execution and said they had launched an investigation "to arrest and punish the perpetrators of this criminal act."
Endangered Scholars Worldwide condemns this heinous crime in the strongest possible terms and stands in solidarity with the family of the victim. In recent years students, professors and academics have increasingly been victims of violent attacks–an unacceptable trend that hurts the future of societies at large. Universities, as symbols of freedom, empowerment, and peace, are increasingly targeted for the values they promote, which stand in strong contrast with the extremist ideology and ruthless methods of terrorist groups. Endangered Scholars Worldwide reminds readers that schools and universities must be protected from attacks, as stated in the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict (formerly known as the Lucens Guidelines).
Source: Agence France-Presse