Taleban firing squad executes 16 police officers

The Taleban released a video yesterday showing fighters executing 16 Pakistani tribal policemen in a hail of gunfire after their capture in a cross-border raid from Afghanistan earlier this summer.

The video shows the policemen lined up on a hillside with their hands tied behind their backs, standing in front of armed Taleban fighters wearing scarves to hide their faces. One of the insurgents accused the men of executing six children from Pakistan's Swat Valley by firing squad. "They are the enemies of the religion of Allah," the man said of the police officers.

He and several other fighters then opened fire on the policemen, who crumpled to the ground. Several of them were still moaning, and one fighter walked down the line shooting the policemen in the head.

The video was posted on the LiveLeak video sharing website and included a note saying the policemen were captured on 1 June when the Taleban crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan's northwest Dir district.