The truth about the video of the Taliban “stepping on a corpse” suspended from an American helicopter | the Chronicle

A scary video has started circulating in recent days until it is viral: a Black Hawk helicopter, piloted by the Taliban, flying over the Afghan city of Kandahar with a hanged people.

The footage was shared by Taliban media outlet Talib Times, and they claimed it was a theft of “Our air force!”, With reference to the use of one of the many planes left abandoned by the United States.

And although the post did not mention the conditions of the person who was hanged, posts began to appear on the networks that indicated that he was opponent of the Taliban regime, who was hanged and then his body was “exhibited” for the whole city.

The event sparked mockery and celebration among supporters of the extremist group. For example, Osama Mohammadi, a supposed journalist from the Islamic Emirate, also shared some photographs of this scene: “Our Air Force ♥ We will own advanced military equipment in the future!! All it takes is unity and solidarity! “

However, although the video is real, people are a question is not dead, but hangs on a harness. Bilal Sarwary, a freelance Afghan journalist, published in Twitter that the video showed a pilot who had been trained by the United States and the United Arab Emirates and a Taliban soldier attempting to put up a flag from the air.

In addition, a series of photographs shared by Jahid Jalal show that this person appears to be greeting people under the helicopter.

Another point of controversy related to this video is whether it shows a Black Hawk helicopter, since The United States left behind a lot of military equipment when it withdrew from the regionBut many planes and helicopters have been demilitarized and should have been rendered unusable.

The general Kenneth F. McKenzie said a few days ago that they dismantled 73 planes before leaving.

This video, however, appears to show a Black Hawk helicopter that was previously used by the Afghan Air Force. The US Department of Defense has yet to comment on the footage.

The video broadcast by the Taliban

American weapons now in the hands of the Taliban

Before the Taliban took control of the country, the Afghan Air Force operated 167 aircraft, including planes and helicopters with strike capability, according to data from the Office of the Inspector General for the Reconstruction of Afghanistan at the end of June.

However, It is not known how many of these 167 were captured by the Taliban.

The BBC had access to footage from Kandahar Airport showing many of these Afghan army planes parked on the runway. These photographs were taken six days after the regime’s arrival in Kandahar City and you can see five planes: two MI-17 helicopters, two Black Hawks and a third helicopter which could also be a Black Hawk.

However, 16 planes can be seen on another satellite image taken on July 16. Which means that many of these ships have been taken out of the country or transferred to other bases.

The Taliban also captured the other nine air bases, including those in Herat, Khost, Kunduz and Mazar, but it is not known how many planes they managed to seize, as no satellite images are available.

Between 2003 and 2016, the United States provided the country with an enormous amount of war material: 358,530 different types of rifles, more than 64,000 machine guns, 25,327 grenade launchers and 22,174 combat trucks (called Humvees), according to the US government report itself.

After NATO forces completed their work in Afghanistan in 2014, the Afghan army was tasked with ensuring the security of the country. But, as the difficulty of fighting the Taliban became evidentThe United States gave them more equipment to replace the old ones they already had.

At that time, they were given 20,000 M16 rifles. And then at least 3,598 M4 rifles and 3,012 Humvee rifles. According to the count made by the British media, the Taliban have at least 3,002 Humvees, 3,598 M4 rifles and 31 armored vehicles.

Taliban take Kabul

The Taliban celebrated last Tuesday with gunfire in the air from Kabul airport on total withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan and the return to power after two decades of war.

After the last contingent of American soldiers who controlled the evacuation of foreigners and Afghans in danger left, Taliban fighters headed for the airport, the last corner of the country’s capital that was beyond their control.

Regime leaders symbolically crossed the trail to commemorate their victory, escorted by fighters from the elite unit “Badri 313”. The soldiers, in their crisp camouflage uniforms, posed for photos, brandishing American weapons and waving the white flag of the movement, on which is inscribed in black the beginning of the “shahada” (Islamic profession of faith).

“Congratulations to Afghanistan (…) This victory belongs to all of us”, declared Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban. His normally impassive face sported a big smile this time.

“The world should have learned its lesson and now is the time to enjoy the victoryMujahid said on a live broadcast.