TALIBAN SPOKESMAN: 'Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law. There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country'

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Horrific video footage has emerged of Taliban insurgents stoning a couple to death for alleged adultery in northern Afghanistan.

Hundreds of villagers can be seen on the video standing around as the woman, Siddqa, is buried up to her waist in a four foot hole in the ground.

Two mullahs pass sentence before the crowd begins to throw rocks at her head and body as she desperately tries to crawl free.

Barbaric: Video footage shows the woman covered completely by a blue burkha, buried up to her waist in the ground as a crowd of people watches on

But the 19-year-old collapses to the ground, covered in blood - but miraculously still alive.

At this point a Taliban fighter shoots her three times in the head with an AK-47The crowd can be heard shouting allahu akbar as she is killed.

Her lover, Khayyam, is then marched in front of the crowd with his hands tied behind his back.

He is blindfolded with his own tunic and crouches down close to the ground as he tried to protect his body from the stones.

Punished: Her alleged lover, Khyyam, crouches down after being blindfolded and having his hands tied behind his back

But he is battered to the floor by a barrage of rocks. He can be heard sobbing before eventually falling silent.

The stoning - the first to be documented on film since the Taliban were ousted from power - took place in the district of Dashte Archi, in Kunduz, last August.

Officials said that Siddqa had run away after being sold into an arranged marriage for $9,000 against her will.

She ran away to be with Khayyam, who was already married and had two children, and the pair eloped to Pakistan.

Charges: Khyyam was marched in front of hundreds of villagers in Dashte Archi, Afghanistan, before they hurled rocks at his head and body

Brutal: Men hurl chunks of rock, some bigger than a fist, during the execution

But it is understand that they returned to their home village after being reassured by leaders that they would be unharmed.

It was a terrible mistake. They were dragged from their families' homes at 2am by Taliban fighters and then put before a kangaroo court before being executed.

The incident took place last October near the Afghan border with Tajikstan, a conservative district with a heavy extremist presence.

The area remains under Taliban control, but regional police have said those behind the stoning will be charged.

Extremist: The sentencing is overseen by Taliban fighters, who also shoot the woman after she somehow survives the stoning

Mob: The crowd continued to throw stones at the couple even after they slumped to the floor

Police chief General Daoud Daoud told the BBC: 'Special police investigators will be sent there, we will find them and they will be brought to justice.'

Most of the video has not been shown because it was too graphic.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid defended the stoning.

He told the BBC: 'Anyone who knows about Islam knows that stoning is in the Koran, and that it is Islamic law.

'There are people who call it inhuman - but in doing so they insult the Prophet. They want to bring foreign thinking to this country.'