A Taliban death squad has murdered a well-known Afghan comedian who defiantly mocked the extremists as they drove him to his place of execution.
The footage, recorded at the end of July, shows Nazar Mohammad, known by the stage name Khasha Zwan, being guarded by two heavily armed Taliban gunmen in the back seat of a car at the end of July.
The clip was taken as the Taliban tightened its grip on other regions of Afghanistan before their rapid military operation took control of the capital, Kabul.
Afghan comedian Nazar Mohammad, who went by the stage name, Khasha Zwan, was shown wedged between two heavily guarded Taliban gunmen in a car driving through the southern city of Kandahar.
Human Rights Watch reported on July 30 that Nazar was beaten and then shot several times in what they have described as a "revenge killing" for making defiant jokes and mocking Taliban on popular video-sharing app TikTok.
The video shows Nazar mocking the extremists despite being driven to the site of his execution.
As the comedian ridicules them, one of the brutal gunmen beats him repeatedly across the face.
Human rights groups confirmed Nazar was shot dead by a firing squad after the video was taken, and the militants eventually claimed responsibility for his murder.
Nazar's sick executors took pictures at the scene of his death, showing him against a tree trunk, and later laying lifeless on the ground with blood pouring from a neck wound.
The news of the well-known comedian's death comes following reports that Taliban death squads have been going door-to-door, hunting those who have previously opposed them and taking them to extra-judicial execution sites.
Reports from human rights groups in Afghanistan suggest militants have already broken their pledge not to carry out revenge killings after the government's collapse.
Thousands are desperately seeking to flee after the Taliban, whose brutal regime was in power between 1996 and 2001, seized control of the capital last Sunday.
Images showed robed fighters appearing to hold American M-16 rifles, with the UN warning the group appears to be seeking out anyone who worked with the US or NATO.
German news organisation Deutsche Welle (DW) said the Taliban had killed a close relative of one of its journalists after a house-to-house search.
Other family members are said to be on the run.
