Young Afghan Couple Shot Dead For Eloping

A file photo of the city of Pol-e Khomri, in Baghlan Province, where the two young victims lived

KABUL -- A 20-year-old Afghan girl and a young man have been shot dead in northern Afghanistan after apparently attempting to elope.

A local police official in Baghlan Province told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that local elders in Pol-e Khomri’s Dand-e Ghori region ordered the killing of the couple.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that the two were captured by the girl's relatives while trying to escape by car.

Khadija Yaqin, head of Women's Affairs department in Baghlan, confirmed to Radio Free Afghanistan that the decision to kill the two, who wanted to get married, was made by local elders.

Authorities have launched an investigation into the case.

The man's precise age was not immediately clear.