Horrific video of two young lovers being stoned to death by Talibans

A mobile phone video of a woman and man accused of adultery being stoned to death in Afghanistan has just been released.

The stoning took place in a Taliban stronghold in the Kunduz province in August and although Afghan officials say that the men who stoned the couple to death will be brought to justice, none of the hundreds of men who attended the stoning have so far been arrested.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid defended the sentencing.

In a telephone interview with the BBC he said: "Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law.

"There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country."

Ahmed Nader Nadery, of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, has seen the full video condemned the attack and and said it brought back memories of when the Taliban ruled the country.

Most of the video is too graphic to be shown, so below is an edited version of it. If you want to know what happens in the video you can read a description by BBC's Afghan correspondent below the video.

Please note that both the video and text are extremely disturbing.

The video begins with Siddqa, a 25-year-old woman, standing waist-deep in a hole in the ground.

She is entirely hidden in a blue burka. Hundreds of men from the village are gathered as two mullahs pass sentence. As Taliban fighters look on, the sentence is passed and she is found guilty of adultery.

The stoning lasts two minutes. Hundreds of rocks - some larger than a man's fist - are thrown at her head and body. She tries to crawl out of the hole, but is beaten back by the stones. A boulder is then thrown at her head, her burka is soaked in blood, and she collapses inside the hole.

Incredibly Siddqa was still alive. The mullahs are heard saying she should be left alone. But a Taliban fighter steps forward with a rifle and she is shot three times.

Then her lover, Khayyam, is brought to the crowd. His hands are tied behind his back. Before he is blindfolded he looks into the mobile phone camera. He appears defiant.

The attack on him is even more ferocious. His body, lying face down, jerks as the rocks meet their target. He is heard to be crying, but is soon silent.

The couple had earlier eloped to Pakistan, but were lured back with the false promise that they would not be harmed.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12292917