( CNN ) -- The execution of Najiba , an Afghan woman in her 20 's , shot 13 times in front of a cheering crowed in Parwan province -- and seen widely online in a grainy cell phone video -- is a show of confidence by the Taliban . It 's unclear why she was shot , but local officials offer various reasons for her execution . She was reportedly executed last month for adultery , a crime that is indeed punishable in Islam . But for an adultery charge to be proved , Islam requires four eyewitness accounts that match precisely . This is nearly impossible in cultures like Najiba 's , where sexual acts are extremely discrete . But that religious requirement is irrelevant in any case to the Taliban , whose fanatic view of Islam has been nothing but a violation of the spirit of the religion itself . Manhunt under way for Taliban who shot woman in public execution amid cheers . After an hour-long trial , Najiba was shot either by her Taliban husband or someone else . ( One version of the story is she had affairs with two Taliban members . ) But this case is less about Najiba and more about the Taliban demonstrating its power , even as the United States and Afghanistan attempt negotiations with the Taliban . You see , women are like the canary in the coal mine : What happens to them is an indicator of a larger political direction for the society . The Taliban has consistently used women to demonstrate its power . When it first took over much of Afghanistan in 1996 , it imposed the harshest seclusion and prosecution of women in modern history . Afghan women suffered under house imprisonments . They were forbidden education and any form of mobility , to name only a few of its brutal prohibitions . But when the international community entered Afghanistan in 2001 and started introducing laws to protect women 's rights , albeit in very basic ways , the Taliban retreated as its political and military power was weakened . In the past two years , however , and particularly since the international community started talking about withdrawal from Afghanistan , the Taliban began boldly resuming its own rules in provinces where they have recently regained control , such as Parwan province . And this has been reflected in one act of violence toward women after another . Through such public acts -- sometimes recorded , as this one was -- the Taliban is demonstrating its complete disregard of the Afghan government and the national rule of law . Women 's rights can not be taken lightly , nor can they be seen as a marginal issue separate from the political process of a country . The international community entered Afghanistan with a clear promise to protect women 's rights and invest in creating opportunities for women to stand up on their feet . Afghan women took advantage of the opportunities that were presented . They ran for and took political offices , they sent their daughters to school , they took loans from microcredit entities and started new business , and they worked in factories all at personal risks . They are now asking whether the international community is planning to abandon them as forces prepare to depart Afghanistan in 2014 , and they are worried , very worried indeed . Educated and uneducated women working in all sectors in the country are asking the same question : `` Is the international community going to sacrifice its promise to protect us from the rule of the Taliban in order to reach political settlement with it ? '' If it is , then all the efforts of every soldier , every taxpayer , every humanitarian worker who has worked -- and in some cases , died -- in Afghanistan will have been in vain . To abandon the protection of women 's rights to seek political agreement with a force of repression is to risk a return not only to insecurity in Afghanistan , but I 'd dare say to the world . The Taliban only started its acts of violence with women . We have to remember that it did not stop there . That violence eventually affected every Afghan man and child , and it eventually came to America and impacted the world . Saving Face : The struggle and survival of Afghan women . The taping of Najiba 's execution is the Taliban 's message that it is confident . What 's going to be the message back to them from the Afghan government and the international community ? Will it be to demonstrate that women 's rights and protections are valued in actions , in addition to the political statements already made condemning the execution ? We all are responsible for the answer to that question . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Zainab Salbi .
Zainab Salbi : Execution of women in Afghanistan is show of Taliban 's brutality . She says killing woman for committing rape flouted Afghan legal system , spirit of Islam . She says Taliban uses force to put women first ; world must react , not just Taliban . Salbi : It 's short step between Taliban brutality toward women , aggression to rest of world .