This graphic video has been making rounds on Whatsapp. It shows men being shot one after another by people alleged to be the Taliban. Piga Firimbi looks into the legitimacy of these claims to establish when these videos were taken, where and in what context.
Please note that the video below may contain graphic content, therefore viewer discretion is advised.
Background
On August 31, 2021, the USA government completed vacating more than 120,000 people from Afghanistan. Since the United States government withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban is expected to form a government. Updates from Aljazeera also state that the Kabul airport is expected to reopen with the help of officials from Qatar and Turkey.
Verification
Reverse image searches show that a screenshot from this video was featured in 2016 on AMN News. According to AMN News, this execution happened in Al-Kindi, northern Aleppo in Syria. The article indicates that the execution happened when the Al-Kindi Cancer Hospital was captured by the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and Jabhat Al-Nusra in late 2013.
Additionally, a tweet from 2018 terms these men as ‘the last men of Aleppo.’ It dates the incident back to December 2013, in an execution reportedly carried out by FSA and Al-Nusra.
Similarly, David Puente debunked related claims to this video on February 10, 2017. According to this publication, the execution took place in Syria and the executions were said to have been done by the FSA/Al-Nusra.
Verdict
Claims that these executions recently happened in Afghanistan are FALSE.
This story was produced by Africa Uncensored in partnership with Code for Africa with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
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