Twenty-two Afghan commandos were shot dead by the
Taliban at Dawlat Abad town in Faryab province near Afghanistan’s border with
Turkmenistan on June 16, according to a report by CNN. The US-based media
network says that it has obtained and verified footage of said shootings.

Videos show the commandos’ bodies strewn across an
outdoor market.

The commandos belonged to the Afghan Special Forces.
After a fierce battle to hold the town, the commandos had run out of
ammunition. They were surrounded by Taliban fighters, according to
eyewitnesses.

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In one of the videos, it can be heard, “Surrender,
commandos, surrender” as several men emerge out of a building unarmed. Guns
blaze and at least a dozen men are seen shot to death.

Another video shows a bystander pleading the
Taliban to not shoot the commandos. “Don’t shoot them, don’t shoot them, I beg
of you don’t shoot them,” the bystander can be heard saying in Pashto, the
local language.

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The Red Cross has confirmed that bodies of 22
commandoes were retrieved.

The indiscriminate killings appear in stark
contrast with the Taliban’s own claims of accepting surrenders of soldiers and in
some instances paying soldiers to return home as it makes territorial gains
across Afghanistan.

Three days after the violence in Dawlat Abad, the
Taliban posted a video showing seizure of weapons and military trucks.

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The video claimed that “the Washington guards, a
CIA specially trained special commando who had been pursuing the Taliban in
Dawlat Abad, Faryab, were captured alive by the Taliban, disarmed and
handcuffed.”

Taliban told CNN that the videos showing commandos
being shot were fake and part of the government’s propaganda. According to a
Taliban spokesperson, they were still holding 24 commandos who had been
captured in Faryab province but did not provide any evidence.

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The Afghan Ministry of Defense denied that the
Taliban was holding commandos and said that they had been killed.     

Afghanistan has been in the midst of brutal
violence since the US decided to withdraw forces from the country. The Taliban
claim to control over 80% of the country and the civilian administration’s
capacities are being tested. The US is scheduled to completely withdraw from
Afghanistan by September 11.