14 arrested amid national uproar over 'honor killing' in Pakistan

Police say a local tribal chief who ordered the execution is among those detained in the deaths of a man and woman accused of having an affair.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Surrounded by pickup trucks in dry and mountainous terrain, two people are forced out of their vehicle by a group of men and led away at gunpoint before being shot multiple times at close range.

The execution video has been shared widely online in recent days, leading to the arrest of 14 people over the “honor killing” of the pair — a man and woman who were accused of having an affair — and sparking uproar over the issue in Pakistan.

NBC News was unable to independently verify the video, but local police confirmed that it showed the killings in question. The killings in Balochistan province took place last month, police said, but the video went viral only in recent days.

”The police have identified a number of people in the video,” provincial police chief Mozzam Jah Anssri said Monday, describing the deaths as “honor killings.”

“Some of them have been arrested and efforts are underway” to find the others, he added.

He said among those arrested was a local tribal chief, Sardar Sher Baz Khan Satakzai, who is alleged to have ordered the killings. Police have identified the man who shot the woman in the video as her brother, though it is not clear whether he has been detained.