Mick Hartley

…where falling in love carries a death penalty:

The Taleban in Afghanistan have publicly killed a young couple who they said had tried to have an illicit affair, officials say.

The man, 21, and woman, 19, were shot dead on Monday in front of a mosque in the south-western province of Nimroz….

Officials said the couple were traced by militants after they tried to go to Iran. They were made to return to their village in Khash Rod district.

"Three Taleban mullahs brought them to the local mosque and they passed a fatwa (religious decree) that they must be killed. They were shot and killed in front of the mosque in public," the governor said.

He said there were some reports that the families of the young couple could have links with the Taleban.

And in Kandahar, women's rights activist Sitara Achikzai has been gunned down:

A United Nations official Monday called the weekend assassination of a prominent women's right activist in Afghanistan cowardly.

Sitara Achikzai was fatally shot by two motorcyclists outside her home in Kandahar Sunday after a provincial council meeting in southern Afghanistan, the U.N. assistance mission in Afghanistan said….

The Scotsman reported that the Taliban had claimed responsibility for the slaying. The Islamic extremist group says it will pay 200,000 Pakistani rupees, about $3,500, to anyone who kills a member of the council.

See Terry Glavin here.