Dozens of men and women took to the streets of Kabul Wednesday to protest the public killing of an Afghan woman accused of adultery.
The woman's executioner shot her nine times as scores of Taliban and local villagers watched. Afterwards they cheered the killing.
Female activist Zuhra Alamyar witnessed the murder and is demanding government action.
"We want the government to take action on behalf of these women ... who are victims of violence and who are being killed," Alamyar said. "We want the government to take serious action and stop them."
Top officials, including Afghan President Hamid Karzai, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the top commander of U.S. and NATO forces, are also speaking out against the atrocity.
"Such a crime is unforgivable in the sacred religion of Islam and the laws of the country," Karzai said.
"Let's be clear, this wasn't justice, this was murder, and an atrocity of unspeakable cruelty," American Gen. John Allen, commander of International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, said in a statement.
"The Taliban's continued brutality toward innocent civilians, particularly women, must be condemned in the strongest terms," he said.
Public executions for adultery and other crimes were commonplace during the Taliban's five-year rule, which ended with the American invasion in 2001.