Video of Taliban-style justice being meted-out in a northern Pakistani enclave appeared on local television channels Friday, providing vivid evidence of the militant groups' penchant for ruthlessly enforcing their own controversial Islamic laws in an area firmly under their control.
The video, released by human rights activists to private TV channels, shows bearded Taliban militants in the scenic Swat Valley forcibly dragging a woman to the middle of a group of hundreds of men standing on a grassy field, ostensibly to witness her punishment.
Moments later, the woman — described by her Islamic extremist "prosecutors" as a 17-year-old accused of adultery — is thrown to the ground, face covered, and flogged several times by one of the men as the onlookers shout "Allah-o-Akbar" (God is great).
The video immediately reignited concerns over the Pakistani government's decision in February to strike a controversial deal in Swat with the militants. Pakistan's U.S.-allied government accepted the imposition of Islamic "shariah" law.
The deal in Swat brought an end to almost two years of fighting between the Pakistani military and Islamic extremists, led by local Taliban militants. Critics, however, said at the time that conceding ground to the Taliban would almost certainly embolden them, possibly expanding their quest for shariah law to other areas of Pakistan.
"What is there to prove now that this deal ... >>>
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