The Taliban have condemned a “horrific” video that appears to show fighters from the Islamic State group blowing up bound and blindfolded Afghan prisoners with explosives, spotlighting the growing rivalry between the militant networks.
IS insurgents have been making gradual inroads into Afghanistan, challenging the Taliban on their home turf at a time when an increasingly bitter power transition is roiling the Afghan militant movement.
The Taliban have themselves often been accused of savagery during their 14-year insurgency against the US-backed Afghan government but they were blunt in their condemnation of the new IS video.
“A horrific video… shows kidnappers who associate themselves with Daesh (IS) brutally martyring several white-bearded tribal elders and villagers with explosives,” the Taliban said in a statement Tuesday.
The video, more than four minutes long, appeared on jihadi social media forums on Sunday and contained commentary in Arabic and Pashto.
Apparently shot in Afghanistan’s restive east against the backdrop of hilly grasslands enveloped with fog, it describes the prisoners as “apostates” aligned with the Taliban or the Afghan government. But the Taliban described them as “innocent civilians”.”This un-Islamic act… can never be justified,” their statement said.
“This offence and other such brutal actions by a few irresponsible ignorant individuals under the guise of Islam and Muslims are intolerable.”
