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How the Taliban executed an unarmed man in Balkh

The Taliban executed an unarmed civilian, Najibullah, in Balkh province, despite video evidence showing he posed no threat.

The Taliban executed an unarmed civilian, Najibullah, in Balkh province, despite video evidence showing he posed no threat. OSINT analysis disproves Taliban claims, revealing the incident as an extrajudicial killing.

A video widely shared on social media, shows a confrontation between Najibullah, the alleged driver of a burning Toyota Corolla (1990s model), and a Taliban fighter armed with an AK-variant rifle. The location of the incident has been geolocated (36.729500, 67.190472) to the east of Mazar-e-Sharif city, on the Kabul-Mazar road, near Balkh University’s Engineering and Economy campus, in front of a petrol station. (See Figure 1)

In the video, Najibullah appears unarmed and calm as the Taliban fighter approaches him. Without any visible provocation, the Taliban fighter begins to physically assault him, using his rifle to strike Najibullah. As Najibullah defends himself, the altercation escalates. At one point, a third individual enters the scene, attempting to break up the fight. Amid the scuffle, the Taliban fighter misfires his rifle, wounding himself in the foot.

Despite the situation de-escalating after the misfire, Najibullah was later executed by other Taliban members at the same location. Images of his body show his hands tied behind his back and a gunshot wound to the forehead, confirming his execution.

Taliban claim

A pro-Taliban account presented a very different version of events. According to this user, an intoxicated individual (whom he refers to as a “criminal”) entered a taxi, alarming the driver, who then went to seek assistance from the Taliban. This account’s post claims that when the intoxicated person exited the taxi, he set fire to the vehicle. This version of events suggests that Najibullah was drunk, disorderly, and violent.

This pro-Taliban account further claims that Najibullah was handed over to Taliban security personnel following the scuffle. He alleges that during the altercation, Najibullah shot and injured the Taliban fighter before being subdued by other members of the Taliban. This Taliban account uses this narrative to justify Najibullah’s eventual execution, framing it as a necessary response to the actions of a violent criminal, which is echoed by multiple pro-Taliban accounts.

Conflicting claims & extrajudicial killing

While the Taliban-affiliated narrative paints Najibullah as the aggressor, several inconsistencies arise when comparing it to the available evidence:

Before the scuffle, it appears that a verbal disagreement is made between the two, however, the only intelligible lip read of Najibullah is that he says ‘’come’’ to the Taliban fighter but does not seem to physically threaten the Taliban fighter seconds before the scuffle.

Pro-Taliban accounts claim that Najibullah set the car on fire after exiting it. While the car is burning in the footage, no visual evidence supports the argument that Najibullah was responsible for the fire. Furthermore, Najibullah remains at the scene, which would be unusual behaviour for someone committing arson. According to pro-Taliban accounts, Najibullah shot the Taliban fighter during the scuffle. However, it is not clear who pressed the trigger causing the shot to be fired.

Even after the scuffle ends and the Taliban fighter is injured, Najibullah is seen standing calmly, presenting no immediate threat. (see Figure 2) This raises serious questions about why he was executed later by other Taliban members. The image of Najibullah, with his hands tied and a single bullet wound to the forehead head, strongly suggests that his death was an act of extrajudicial killing, not a justified response to any aggression.

Forensic analysis of this image [GRAPHIC] and comparisons with the individual seen in the video confirm that Najibullah was the person who was killed. (see Figure 3) His beard, attire (a traditional Shalwar Kameez), and head shape all match the characteristics of the man in the footage.

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