by Jibran Khan

Video clip shot in Swat Valley shows soldiers executing six blindfolded men, finishing them off afterwards. The video, which appeared first online in September, has led to more accusations of human rights violations against Pakistan’s military whose initial reaction was to stop its release through intimidation and threats.

Islamabad (AsiaNews/ Agencies) – Pakistani Army Chief of Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has ordered a probe into a video purportedly showing Pakistani soldiers killing six blindfolded men. Seen around the world, the video, which appeared first on the Internet, was treated as a fake initially. Its release has led to accusations against the Pakistani army, which has already been criticised for human rights violations in the past.

In a press conference last Friday, General Kayani announced the creation of a board of inquiry to establish the identity of the uniformed personnel in the video and the veracity of the footage. If the culprits belong to the military, they would be severely punished, he promised.

However, many observers believe the shift in position is the result of pressures from the US State Department, which threatened to cut off financial aid to the Pakistani military.

The five-minute, 39-second video shows six men, blindfolded with their hands bound behind their backs, being led through a thicket of trees to an open patch near a wall, where they are lined up shoulder-to-shoulder by men in military fatigues and armed with automatic rifles. After the apparent commander says “OK” to the soldiers, they fire a volley of shots into the blindfolded men. As some of the bound men moan in pain, one of the soldiers walks up, stands over the figures on the ground, and fires several more rounds to finish them off.

It is not clear how the video was posted. Some human rights activists believe it was taken in the restive Swat Valley, in northwestern Pakistan, by one of the soldiers on a mobile phone.

Sources close to the military told AsiaNews that no Pakistani TV station or paper mentioned the video before Kayani’s announcement. Those who got a hold of the video said they experienced intimidation and received threats from the military.

For more than a year, the Pakistani army has been accused of continuous human rights violations.

In a report release in April, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan alleged that 249 suspected summary executions were carried out by Pakistani security forces between 30 July 2009, and 22 March, mostly in the Swat Valley.

Most of violence is the Swat Valley, scene last year of a major army offensive against the Taliban.

• pakistan
• taliban
• army
• summary
• execution
• probe
• blindfolded
• men