The Taliban killed 22 Afghan soldiers who were trying to surrender last month in an attack that was captured on video and corroborated by witnesses. CNN reported Tuesday that the Taliban shot and killed 22 members of an Afghan Special Forces Unit on June 16 in the town of Dawlat Abad in Faryab Province, which is near Afghanistan’s border with Turkmenistan, several videos confirmed by the investigation showed.
The victims were members of an Afghan Special Forces unit. After a fierce battle to hold the town, the commandos had run out of ammunition and were surrounded by the Taliban fighters, witnesses said. The Red Cross confirmed to CNN that the bodies of 22 commandos were retrieved. In one video of the attack, a number of men are seen exiting a building, unarmed, yelling “surrender, commandos, surrender,” according to CNN. Shots are then fired, followed by at least a dozen people being shot and people crying out “Allahu Akbar,” which translates to “God is Great.” Witnesses told the network that the commandos’ stock of ammunition was empty, following a battle to hold the town, and they were surrounded by Taliban fighters. The Taliban, however, told the network that the video showing the commandos being shot and killed was fake and government propaganda to persuade personnel not to surrender.
