In the village of Qimchok in the Shinwari district, just north of the capital of Kabul, the Taliban executed a burqa-clad woman in the middle of a busy street. Amateur video shows a cheering mob as the executioner shoots her nine times after a mock trial claiming she committed adultery.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the killing and ordered the arrest Monday of the Taliban members who participated in the execution.

Officials in Afghanistan believe the woman was executed because two Taliban commanders had a dispute over her. This is according to provincial Governor Abdul Basir Salangi, ruler of the area where the murder took place.

To save face, they accused her of adultery, Salangi claimed. “They faked a court to decide about the fate of this woman and in one hour, they executed the woman,” he went on to say.

Salangi also went on to state that a third commander subsequently killed both Taliban commanders responsible for the death of the woman.

U.S. Army General John Allen, commander of the NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, was encouraged by reports that local police forces were “investigating the circumstances surrounding this atrocity.”

Women’s rights have made significant gains in Afghanistan under the last decade. Under Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, women’s rights were virtually non-existent, and girls were even forbidden to go to school.

Greene, Richard Allen; Carter, Chelsea J; Sidner, Sara; and Khapalwak, Ruhullah (2012, July). Manhunt under way for Taliban who shot woman in public execution amid cheers. http://www.cnn.com. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/09/world/asia/afghanistan-public-execution/index.html?hpt=hp_t2