Taliban video shows policemen's execution
PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD: The Taliban released a video on Monday showing fighters executing 16 policemen in a hail of gunfire who were captured in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan last month.
A senior police official told AFP the video was filmed on June 1, when Taliban besieged a police checkpost in Upper Dir, about six kilometres from the border with Afghanistan's Kunar province.
The video, posted on the LiveLeak website, showed at least 16 policemen, all wearing traditional baggy trousers and tunic, standing on a hillside with hands tied behind their backs.
A Taliban commander and other bearded fighters, also wearing shalwar khamiz, but armed with kalashnikovs and rocket-propelled grenades, stand in front of the policemen, none of whom are wearing uniform.
The commander then delivers a brief speech, declaring the policemen enemies of Islam and deserving of death. "They are enemies of the religion of Allah and have left Islam. They are apostates. Allah orders to kill such people," one of the terrorists shouted, speaking in the local Pashto language.
He also accused the policemen of "brutally" killing six children in the former Taliban stronghold of Swat. "They (policemen) were arrested in the operations," the Taliban commander said before they opened fire on the soldiers, who crumpled to the ground. The soldiers cried out as they died. Several of them were still moaning, and one fighter walked down the line shooting the policemen in the head to ensure all were dead. Inter-Services Public Relations Director General, Major General Athar Abbas, confirmed the contents of the video. The army spokesman said the security forces were captured during a cross-border raid by terrorists from Afghanistan in the northwestern Dir district on June 1. He gave no other details.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain said the video was taken in Upper Dir, where officials said Taliban crossed the border from Afghanistan to attack Pakistani police.
Upper Dir police chief Mir Qasim Khan put the number of victims in the video at 18, saying they were policemen and paramilitary police captured on June 1. "It was a pre-dawn attack and that's why most of them are not wearing uniform," he told AFP.
The Taliban were not reachable for comment on Monday.
Government officials at the time said up to 400 terrorists crossed from Afghanistan and clashed for more than 24 hours in the village of Shaltalo in Dir. Twenty-seven Pakistani forces and 45 terrorists were killed in clashes, the officials said.
Pakistan later lodged a protest with Kabul over the attack and called for stern action by Afghan and US-led forces against the insurgents. agencies
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