Mali couple stoned to death for having pre-marital sex

GlobalPost

A Mali couple was stoned to death by Islamists in front of 200 people. The couple's "crime" was sex before marriage, BBC News reported

An anonymous local government official witnessed the barbaric execution. "I was there. The Islamists took the unmarried couple to the center of Aguelhok. The couple was placed in two holes and the Islamists stoned them to death," the official told Agence France-Presse."The woman fainted after the first few blows."

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A spokesman for the radical Islamist group behind the attack told the Associated Press that the couple was executed according to Shariah Law. 

The execution comes after militant Islamist groups seized control of towns in northern Mali earlier this year. The militants have horrified the international community when they destroyed centuries-old shrines in the historic city of Timbuktu. Mali's interim President Dioncounda Traore called for talks with the militants on Sunday, the BBC reported. 

The Economic Community of West African States wants to send troops to Mali but is waiting to get approval from the United Nations, the AFP reported. The unmarried couple left behind two children, including a six-month-old infant. 

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