KABUL, (AFP) – According to a senior official, the Taliban hung the bodies of four kidnappers from cranes after killing them in a gunfight in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat on Saturday.
Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir, deputy governor of Herat province, claimed the men’s bodies were exposed in several public locations on the same day as the executions to convey a “lesson” that abduction will not be condoned.
Social media photos showed bloodied victims in the back of a pick-up truck while a crane lifted one guy up.
A large throng watched as armed Taliban members gathered around the car.
Another video showed a guy hung from a crane at a prominent roundabout in Herat, holding a banner that said, “Abductors shall be punished like this.”
The exhibition in numerous major squares is the most high-profile public punishment since the Taliban took control last month, and it is a hint that the Islamist hardliners will impose harsh measures similar to their former rule from 1996 to 2001.
Muhajir stated that security personnel were notified on Saturday morning that a businessman and his son had been kidnapped in the city.
Police closed down the routes leading out of town, and the Taliban halted the guys at a checkpoint, when “an exchange of fire occurred,” he added.
“As a consequence of a few minutes of combat, one of our Mujahideen was injured and all four kidnappers were slain,” Muhajir said in an AFP-transcribed statement.
“The Islamic Emirate is our name. No one should cause harm to our country. No one should be kidnapped “In the video, he says.
Muhajir also stated that there had been previous kidnappings in the city before to Saturday’s event, and that the Taliban had freed a youngster.
According to him, one kidnapper was murdered and three others were apprehended, but in another case, the Taliban “failed and the abductors were able to make money.”
“It pained us a lot since our people are being taken while we are in Herat,” Muhajir added.
“To teach other kidnappers not to kidnap or harass anyone, we hanged them in the city squares and made it obvious to everyone that anyone who steals, abducts, or does anything against our people would be punished.”
