Unmarried, Co-Habitating Couple Killed By Stoning for Violating Islamic Law
As part of their bloody campaign to establish an Islamic state, insurgents occupying the northern Mali town of Aguelhok stoned a couple they accused of having children outside marriage. The incident took place May 16 in the remote village of Taghlik in the Kidal region near the northern border of Algeria.
A spokesman of the Al-Qaida-linked Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) group said the pair had extra-conjugal relations without the benefit of matrimony. "Our men on the ground in Aguelhok applied Sharia (Islamic law)," he said. "We don't have to answer to anyone over the application of Sharia," he added.
The spokesman described how they carried out the sentencing. Ringleaders dug two holes where the man and woman were buried up to their necks. The public was invited to take part in the execution, but only four men threw stones at the young pair until they died.
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The man was reportedly the son of Lt. Iyad ag Ghali. "This lieutenant was one of the instigators of the death of his own son," a source said, adding that it was the high-ranking officer's way of proving his commitment to AnsarDine. "It may seem incredible, but we are seeing every day the extent of the extremism of these people," the source added.
The incident happened on the eve of a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, who was due to meet French troops stationed in Mali. A United Nations mission has been stationed in the vast West African nation since 2013, and it is considered as the most dangerous active peacekeeping deployment.
Northern Mali fell to jihadist groups in March 2012 where they enforced Sharia law that imposes punishments like whipping and stoning for adulterers, and punitive mutilation of thieves. The incident was the first public stoning known to have taken place in the country since July 2012 when the same group executed a similarly situated couple.
