ISLAMABAD: Media in Pakistan yesterday condemned a video in circulation that appears to show Taliban fighters urging on a boy of around 12 as he beheads a Pakistani militant accused of being a US spy.
“The gruesome and savage nature of this particular execution clearly suggests that those who claim to do such acts in defence of their religion are shamelessly indulging in falsehoods themselves,” The News daily said.
The unprecedented use of a child in propaganda spread by extremists “may constitute a war crime in itself,” it added.
Shot at an undisclosed location, the footage dubbed with jihadi songs and tributes to Taliban leaders shows the last minutes of a man identified as a Taliban traitor.
Executed as a warning to others, the man was said to have given information to US forces that later killed senior Taliban commander Akhtar Mohamed Osmani in an air strike in Afghanistan in December.
The video shows the man being blindfolded with a scarf and making a confession. The boy then denounces him as a spy and cuts off his head with a hunting knife to shouts of “Allahu Akbar” - God is great.
However, a Taliban website made no mention of the incident. A spokesman for the militants could not be reached for comment. Copies of the video were reportedly on sale in the executed man’s home village in southern Pakistan. Some of the footage was also broadcast on the Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV network. - DPA