KABUL, Afghanistan – Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense said it was investigating a video circulated on social media on Thursday that men in Afghan army uniforms showed changing bodies of Taliban fighters.
The intensification of violence on the eve of the peace talks to end the war, with fighters on both sides often resorting to brutal tactics, has caused retaliation to continue long after one peace agreement is signed.
The two-minute mobile phone shows the men in uniforms hitting the heads of corpses with brooches. Other soldiers, with their faces visible, are gathered around the stage – some laughter, some film and photo, one standing over a body, smoking a cigarette as he poses for a photo.
The Taliban said in a statement that the bodies of their fighters had been mutilated in the Arghandab district of Zabul province. In early April, the Taliban killed a large number of soldiers from an Afghan army unit there, in the deadliest episode in the district in recent months. An Afghan official said the video is thought to be dated.
One man filming the murder scene can be heard saying, “They were fighting in Arghandab – this is their Red Unity,” referring to the Taliban elite.
“If it is proven that these were personnel of the Afghan army, the perpetrators will be treated according to the law,” the Ministry of Defense said.
The Taliban and the Afghan government are expected to begin direct negotiations in a few days, as part of an agreement reached in February between the insurgents and the United States, which the government supports. That agreement has already led to a signing of U.S. troops, from just over 12,000 troops to about 8,000. As preparations for the direct talks stalled, fueled by a dispute over the exchange of prisoners, violence intensified across the country.
The Taliban have in recent months killed members of Afghan troops who left the force for a long time, or have repeatedly targeted officers who were on their way to their families and were not a direct threat, and then dumped their bodies after killing them. carried out.
In the run-up to the talks, both sides went online to distribute images and videos of each other’s abuse. The widespread images sow hatred that could take revenge long after a peace agreement on paper.
“As the violence continues, we will see more brutal and shocking tactics from the sides and examples of retaliation, and that is very worrying and affects every confidence in a peace process,” said Shaharzad Akbar, head of Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission.
“It is up to the leadership of both sides to have clear messages to their fighters to prevent war crimes and actions that stimulate the instinct for revenge, which would undermine the reconciliation that should come from a peace process. will make. “
Taimoor Shah contributed reporting from Kandahar, Afghanistan, and Fahim Abed from Kabul.
