Living -- and dying -- in the Stone Age

Taliban stone Afghan couple to death for adultery

The woman, Sadiqa, was 20 years old and engaged to another man, said Kunduz provincial police chief, General Abdul Raza Yaqoubi. Her lover, 28-year-old Qayum, left his wife to run away with her, and the two had holed up in a friend's house five days ago, said district government head, Mohammad Ayub Aqyar.

Afghan couple stoned to death

Sunday's execution is the first by the Taliban in the Kunduz province and follows last week's call by Afghan clerics for a return to sharia and capital punishments under Islamic law.

"The couple were brought into an open field and about 100 Taliban or supporters of the Taliban gathered and began stoning them just after a Taliban supporter read out a statement of their confession."

The incident comes a week after officials alleged that a woman accused of adultery was flogged and executed in the northwestern Badghis province.