Taliban Execution Video Shows Death Of 16 Pakistani Policemen

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban released a video Monday showing fighters executing 16 Pakistani tribal policemen in a hail of gunfire who were captured in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan earlier this summer.

The video shows the policemen lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs, standing in front of armed Taliban fighters wearing scarves to hide their faces. Both the policemen and the insurgents are wearing shalwar kameez, the baggy shirt and pants common in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

One of the insurgents accused the men of executing six children from Pakistan's Swat Valley by firing squad.

"They are the enemies of the religion of Allah," the man said of the police officers.

He and several other fighters then opened fire on the policemen, who crumpled to the ground. Several of them were still moaning, and one fighter walked down the line shooting the policemen in the head.

The video was posted on the LiveLeak video sharing website and included a note saying the policemen were captured when the Taliban staged a cross-border raid from Afghanistan on June 1 in Pakistan's northwest Dir district.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas confirmed the contents of the video, and said the Taliban fighters who executed the policemen came from the Swat Valley, an area that used to be controlled by the militant group. The Pakistani military launched a large offensive in Swat in 2009, but many of the fighters slipped across the border into Afghanistan.

Hundreds of Taliban fighters crossed into Upper Dir on June 1 from Afghanistan's eastern Kunar province. They killed at least 30 members of the security forces over three days of fighting before being forced back across the border by the military, said Abbas.

The Pakistani military has complained that Afghan and NATO forces have not done enough to target Taliban sanctuaries in Kunar, where the U.S. withdrew most of its forces over the last year.

Afghanistan and the U.S. have criticized Pakistan for not doing enough to target sanctuaries on its side of the border filled with militants who regularly launch attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has also accused Pakistan of firing hundreds of rockets into Kunar over the past few months and killing at least 40 people – an allegation denied by Pakistan.

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Associated Press writer Zarar Khan contributed to this report.

Comments

[Danyal Lodi]

11:08 AM on 07/19/2011

This is how most of you (not all) sound:

“They're in their 20s, but like certain children, they have been told only one story, over and over. Like most children, they believe in an easily identifiable good and evil, and like most children, they are capable of unthinkable cruelty.” Michael Cunningham, novelist (1952- )

[aflevine]

09:37 AM on 07/19/2011

So Pakistan, are you ABSOLUTELY sure that the US isn't your best ally?

[smoker]

10:22 PM on 07/19/2011

Yes. China is their best ally as China gives arms (nuclear too) without human rights involved and then urges them to fight a proxy war on their behalf in the name of Jihad. Now we all know that Jihad means not only automatic admission in heaven, but also 72 (recycled) virgins. Oooh la, la.

[Rexter]

09:13 AM on 07/19/2011

Typical jungle justice and inter-tribal warfare that goes back to our origins. The policmen were more than likely from a different clan or tribe as the shooters were from another region. Nation building and democracy aren't going to change anything with these people. What a farce and colossal waste of resources.

Why do we insist on viewing the world through the american prism and forcing our value systems on peoples in far away lands that don't share that view? And we do it through force of arms and violence. I am having difficulty figuring who the bad guys are.

[smoker]

10:31 PM on 07/19/2011

Coming from that general part of the world, I can attest to the fact that where we err is in not building the required institutions, the infrastructure and with the common man on the ground there . We trust the rulers to do the right thing, trust them our money and that is our mistake.

But having said that, tribes in Af-Pak have long been nurtured to be independent, taken advantage of by the various regimes and now there is no going back.

[BestGuest]

07:03 AM on 07/19/2011

These fanatics are the perfect tool for the MIC supported empire's neo-colonial tendencies.

Everything about the so called WOT has been designed to fuel the fires of extremism all over the world while it's being sold to us regular civilians as the "Good wars".

Think about it. When you consider "collateral damage" acceptable, the families of the "collaterally damaged" will take you to task....

It's a self-perpetuating cycle. And that's what the whole war is about.

I was recently going through an article regarding U@e and $@ud| money funneling to these groups
http://www.dawn.com/2011/05/22/saudi-arabia-uae-financing-extremism-in-south-punjab.html

Reminded me of what Holbrook once said, but never happened, “We want to focus on where the money really comes from,”....... Well?

[BestGuest]

06:50 AM on 07/19/2011

The U$ foreign policy has already managed to plunge the region into chaos.,... The sooner the military leaves, removes it's multi-billion dollar bases and the little drug industry it has going on there, the better for all us regular people involved.

[gattic619]

11:45 PM on 07/18/2011

Pakistan is not really our ally, they are really traiotrs playing both sides. The religion of ALLAH, has been hijacked by the Taliban and Al Queda.......they are mentally ill fanatics...that must be eliminated by any cost. True Muslims are peaceful, but these people have changed the rules.....No GOD..in any religion...wants their followers to kill in their name. They are hateful hypocrits......We of the WEST need to have a JIHAD against them, and wipe them out...Every single one..

[BestGuest]

06:51 AM on 07/19/2011

Oops... that was meant for someone else....

[estimatorone]

11:27 PM on 07/18/2011

I wonder how much of the money that we pump into the
mideast (aid, oil, etc.) is being diverted to these groups?
They seem well armed, well supported and move about
with impunity.

[BestGuest]

06:44 AM on 07/19/2011

A lot of good money comes from $@udi and other Gulf royals.... The same one's the U$ tried so hard not to have overthrown by their people...

[estimatorone]

11:23 PM on 07/18/2011

And you wonder why these people are being hunted down like
the animals that they are? Why is the Pakistani government
protecting these people? These people have no credibility
whatsover. If I were the Pakistanti government I would be
outraged and take action against these dogs. How can you
expect your police/security to serve you if you allow things
like this to happen with no retribution or punishment?

[smoker]

10:37 PM on 07/19/2011

If you were the Pakistani govt. you'd just shrug it off as the deaths are nothing more than fodder for you and you'd use the deaths to blame the West for not sending more aid money and military aid, as is happening now. You'd also do nothing as these very same militant groups are being used by you against US, Afghanistani and NATO troops and against India.

This is the harsh reality.

[SoldAmerican]

09:22 PM on 07/18/2011

So John Kerry wants to negotiate with these Talibans? Hmmm...

[offred]

06:58 PM on 07/18/2011

Guess we better start dumping money back into Pakistan. Or that's what we're supposed to think.

[Sankara Menon]

06:36 PM on 07/18/2011

The very fact that Pakistan army confirmed the incident shows it is NOT as they say. Further, watch carefully, you will see the precise shooting skills that are seen in armed forces. Also how did the tied hands of the alleged "victims" come loose suddenly not of ONE but many? The whole thing is a smoke and light show created by Pakistan to gain sympathy. Does anyone believe for a moment that armed with Frontier Regulation it is NOT possible to control pashtuns? Remember they are the people who overnight took on women's clothing because a Hindu General - Hari Singh Nalwa - declared they are not men and so should wear womens' clothes.

[offred]

07:00 PM on 07/18/2011

What first struck me is that this could be Pakistani theater meant to rile US warmongers into agitating for pouring billions more dollars into the corrupt Pakistan government and military.

[smoker]

10:55 PM on 07/19/2011

I saw the entire video of 5:36mins and I could count only 4 men with their hands untied. The rest were all tied.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=827_1217387448

General Hari Singh Nalwa was born in 1791 and died in 1837.

[swilli1020]

06:04 PM on 07/18/2011

Odd what some find offensive and acceptable. You mean that a public beheading is fine as a punishment for perhaps speaking one's religious beliefs that are not consistent with the powers to be? On the other hand slapping bras and panties on these guys, stacking them in a pyramid is the unthinkable? Welcome to Sigma Chi Habib....Remove the religious aspects and just plain common sense thinking and still makes no sense. We may have our definite issues here in the US, but I would rather live no where else....not that I want to dress in women's clothing, but I don't want to lose my head either...Sheesh.

[BestGuest]

06:46 AM on 07/19/2011

"We may have our definite issues here in the US, but I would rather live no where else"

While your at it would you mind calling the military back?

[Godstuff]

05:47 PM on 07/18/2011

"They are the enemies of the religion of Allah"

Let the religious insanity continue for all religions are equally absurd. Any individuals who freely think for themselves be very afraid.

Praise Jesus and Allah Akbar

[zt54]

04:57 PM on 07/18/2011

Need to keep defensive lines in Afghanistan!

Keep up our highly successful efforts and nailing a ton of these bad dudes.

Go U.S!

Vote out OBAMA in 2012 he is inept at the job!

[offred]

07:01 PM on 07/18/2011

Have you considered it may be a ploy by the Pakistani Intelligence Service to force the US into turning the dollar spigot back on?

[DAE]

04:54 PM on 07/18/2011

This happens nearly everyday in Mexico and I don't see us sending in 100,000 troops to stop it.

[Bill Hummel]

12:33 AM on 07/19/2011

Thank you I thought I was the only one to notice.

[smoker]

11:03 PM on 07/19/2011

The problem is that Mexico did not attack us officially and directly. E.g. 9/11, whereas the then govt of Afghanistan, Taliban and Mullah Omar, did and support Osama Bin Laden. Hence, the attack.

It's not Mexico who is supplying drugs and neither is the Mexican govt. supporting this. It's the Mexican mafia. Big difference.