Written by Prajwal | Sep 17, 2021 5:03:00 PM
There are no reliable reports that the viral video depicts Taliban forces in Afghanistan executing two young men.After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, social media has been flooded with photographs and video footage purporting to be from the current situation, some of which are challenging to authenticate. In one such video, two guys who appear to be dead are hung and shot by terrorists with an AK47. Without any verifiable evidence, many social media users interpreted the viral footage as the Taliban hanging two guys and then shooting their hanging bodies.
In 2020, in a South Asia Monitor's report, officials in the Faryab region in northwest Afghanistan detailed that Taliban fighters murdered two young men for shaving their beards. The report also said the Taliban did not respond to the allegations, but no additional details about the incident are known.
BBC published an exclusive article based on executions by the Taliban in the Panjshir Valley. Some twenty civilians have been killed in Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley, which has experienced combat between Taliban and opposition troops.
Yalda Hakim, Anchor and Correspondent at the BBC, tweeted, "The Taliban told the BBC based on our report they will launch an investigation." She went on to say that Human Rights Watch has informed her that the BBC article is based on a pattern of such executions that they have documented. BBC News reports the Taliban has denied that civilians are being targeted.
To summarise, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that the men depicted in the video are Afghan citizens. It's also unknown when or why these men were condemned to death and whether or not the terrorists are Taliban members.