Taliban Video Shows Execution of 16 Policemen

A video allegedly released by the Pakistani Taliban shows what appears to be the execution of sixteen policemen in the lawless north-western part of the country.

According to a report in BBC, the footage shows police officers lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs in front of Taliban gunmen who yell at them and the open fire.

In the disturbing footage, just prior to the execution, a local Pakistan Taliban chief tells the police they are enemies of Islam and that God seeks to punish them.

After they are shot, one Taliban member fires shots into their heads, to make certain they are all dead.

The video was published on the LiveLeak website.

Reportedly, the massacre took place in June when Taliban militants crossed into Afghanistan and kidnapped the policemen. The bodies were later found in Pakistan’s Dir valley.

A spokesman for the Pakistani army told BBC the video appears to be authentic.

They are merciless terrorists and this is the threat which we are up against. We have suffered the most at the hands of al-Qaeda and its affiliates... At the same time Pakistan has delivered the most against [them], Major Gen Athar Abbas, Pakistan's army spokesman, told the BBC.

However, the Pakistan military has also been accused of similar abuses against suspected Taliban members (which the army denies).