Taliban condemns 'barbarity' of Islamic State execution video

Taliban says IS released a video showing a group of Afghan prisoners being blown up with explosives

KABUL: The Taliban condemned a video released this week showing what appeared to be a group of fighters belonging to the Islamic State movement killing a group of Afghan prisoners by blowing them up with explosives.

The video, apparently shot in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar in June, gave a glimpse into the struggle the Taliban is waging against Islamic State.

"A horrific video was released yesterday showing kidnappers who associate themselves with Daesh (Islamic State) brutally killing several white-bearded tribal elders and villagers with explosives," said a statement posted on the Taliban's website. The Taliban, which itself if frequently accused of brutality against Afghan government soldiers that it captures, said prisoners should never be treated in such a manner.

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"This offence and other such brutal actions by a few irresponsible ignorant individuals under the guise of Islam and Muslims are intolerable," it said.

The video contained a message in Arabic and a Pashto language commentary which said that a group of what it called "apostates" had been captured following a battle between IS fighters, Taliban and Afghan government forces.

The bound captives appear to have been local men who had fought with or helped the Taliban.

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After showing the explosion which killed the men, the video ends with a message in Arabic urging local people to heed the lesson.