Horrifying new images from Afghanistan show the bodies of three alleged criminals being hung from diggers by the Taliban.
The three men were killed by another man when they entered his home in the Obe district, in Herat province in the north-western part of the country, deputy governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir said.
Graphic images of the corpses were shared on social media, showing the bodies being hoisted into the air and left hanging by their necks from the raised arms of two diggers, as people watch on and take photographs from below.
The gruesome display on Tuesday builds upon concerns that the Taliban have returned to their brutal ways last seen when they were in control of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
This was in spite of claims that the group had changed from their hard-line ways during their 20 years in exile.
The militant group didn’t want “any internal or external enemies”, leaders insisted as well as promising that there wouldn't be violence against women.
In the Taliban’s first press conference back in August, the group claimed they sought no revenge and everyone who worked with the West was forgiven, pledged to honour women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law and vowed not to harbour anyone targeting other nations.
But just days after these claims were made, reports circulated of Afghan children being beaten at checkpoints by Taliban fighters. Weeks later, sickening footage emerged of an Afghan soldier being killed by the Taliban and his severed head being held by his hair.
According to Mail Online, the latest images spread around as rights group Amnesty International claimed Taliban forced unlawfully killed 13 ethnic Hazaras, most of whom were Afghan soldiers who had surrendered to the insurgents.
The killings were carried out in the village of Kahor, in Kaykunda province in central Afghanistan, Amnesty said,
Eleven of the victims were members of the Afghan national security forces. The two others were civilians; one a 17-year-old girl.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson ’s official has travelled to war-torn Afghanistan to meet Taliban leaders for the first time since the chaotic fall of Kabul.
The PM’s special envoy to Afghanistan, Sir Simon Gass, sat down with the group to discuss the humanitarian crisis facing the country.
The top diplomat also told them they had a duty to make sure the nation did not once again descend into a haven for terrorists.
Foreign Office officials said Sir Simon stressed the need for continued safe passage for Afghans who had helped the British mission who wanted to leave.
And he raised the treatment of women and girls after the Taliban effectively banned girls from secondary education by ordering high schools to re-open only for boys.
The talks are a significant development as they suggest that UK efforts to help thousands more people leave the country remain a priority.
The Taliban has been in control since the fall of the western-backed government in August, which followed the chaotic withdrawal of US and UK troops.
Britain does not intend to recognise the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan any time in the near future.
