The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 30, marking the end of two decades of conflict. The United States has reportedly abandoned military equipment, and those that have not been dismantled have been taken over by the Taliban.
A video of the Taliban parading a helicopter in the skies of Kandahar is massively viral on social media. Media and reporters claimed that the video showed the Taliban hanging a person, presumably an American interpreter, from an American Black Hawk helicopter. Below is a tweet from Zee News editor Sudhir Chaudhary.
Another striking image taking the world into a new era of terror.
The Taliban hang a person, believed to be an American interpreter, from an American Blackhawk helicopter.
The remaining US helicopters will now be used in #Afganistan like that. pic.twitter.com/8q6C5bo4IB– Sudhir Chaudhary (@sudhirchaudhary) August 31, 2021
The claim was also promoted by India Today editor-in-chief Shiv Aroor, who shared an article from his outlet.
“Do you remember that scene from Scarface? Well the Taliban did the same with an American helicopter in Kandahar, according to reports” – Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor), August 31, 2021
The news was relayed by many mainstream media.
The other main media that disseminated the information were ZEE5, Aaj Tak, Navbharat Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, Zee Hindustan, India TV, ANI, MSN India, Zee News, NDTV, Republic and ABP News. OpIndia, a pro-BJP propaganda outlet, also published an article.
A video of #Taliban flying one of the many Black Hawk helicopters left behind by US forces in Afghanistan has gone viral on the internet.
In the video, a person can also be seen hanging from the helicopter. Watch the videohttps://t.co/V1pn0haS7C
– WION (@WIONews) August 31, 2021
Checking the facts
With a keyword search on Twitter in Pashto, we came across the following tweets which confirmed that the helicopters were flying in Kandahar.
| کندهار لايت
ار ايي الوتنو ا لېک هاک امريکايي چورلکه ابه شوې او فعاليت ته چمتو شوې.@A_Jahid_Jalal pic.twitter.com/XJB1sqn4E6– Jahid Jalal -جاهد جلال (@A_Jahid_Jalal) 25 August 2021
Using ‘Kandahar’ as a keyword in Pashto, we found another video of a man hanging from a helicopter. This is a clearer video.
ار تازه حال pic.twitter.com/HM2CP2aZHg
– احمد صاحب (@ haji52292547) August 30, 2021
If you look closely, the rope can be seen tied to the man’s back. It hangs from a harness and not from a noose around the neck.
Additionally, in the same video, the man can also be seen gesturing, especially from 15 seconds on. He is not dead contrary to what is suggested on the Internet.
Alt News came across a tweet from the Afghan news agency Aśvaka that posted a similar video from a helicopter over the governor’s office in Kandahar. We contacted the chain via DM and it confirmed that the man was hanging from the helicopter to attach the flag to the governor’s building. “We have a team there, they confirmed the person was checked and hung from the helicopter to attach the flag to the governor’s building in Kandahar,” the channel told us.
Black Hawk on the #Kandahar governor’s office. #Kandahar #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/9dLT46L2Ut
– Aśvaka News Agency – آسواکا (@AsvakaNews) August 30, 2021
Local journalist Sadiqullah Afghan also posted one of the videos showing a man hanging from a helicopter. He informed that the man was a Talib and that he was trying to put a flag on a 100-meter pole.
لکه ار ولایت ام لیدل یو ځوړند دی ، اوسه مسولینو اړه وضاحت نه دی ورکړی. pic.twitter.com/8xlWLgR5dh
– Sadiqullah Afghan (@SadiqullahAfgha) August 30, 2021
Another Afghan journalist tweeted that he knew the Afghan pilot who was flying the helicopter. He identified the man hanging from the helicopter as a Taliban fighter attempting to install the flag of the extremist Islamist group but without success.
The Afghan pilot in command is someone I have known for years. He was trained in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, he confirmed to me that he was flying the Blackhawk helicopter. The Taliban fighter seen here was trying to put up the Taliban flag from the air but it didn’t work in the end. https://t.co/wnF8ep1zEl
– BILAL SARWARY (@bsarwary) August 31, 2021
A keyword search on Facebook using کندهار ولایت مقام (Kandahar province) led to a video of a man hovering over a flag pole. The post said the Taliban were trying to hoist their flag at the governor’s office. In this video, too, the man is clearly alive. He’s also trying to get something out of his pockets.
A similar video was shared by local Kandahar reporter Arghand Abdulmanan.
It should be noted that disinformation is viral across the world, including the New York Post. From what it seems, the video gained some attention after it was posted by @ natsecjeff1. However, he made no complaints when sharing the clip. Another user @Holbornlolz who identifies as a comedian added the spin “man hanged from a helicopter”. Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler tweeted about how the story got twisted on the internet.
This is how things get twisted on the internet. You know that image of the Taliban supposedly hanging someone from a BlackHawk helicopter, tweeted everywhere? Just invented. Not that the video is from “FJ” – @ natsecjeff1 But that’s not what his original video said … pic.twitter.com/Swb0FIGmXR
– Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) August 31, 2021
The media and reporters spread misinformation claiming that an American interpreter was hanged to death on a Black Hawk helicopter by the Taliban. The man was a member of the Taliban and he was trying to put up the uniform’s flag on poles. He was not hanged but hung from a harness. It should also be noted that the US Department of Defense has yet to comment on the video, so it could not be established that the helicopter was indeed a Black Hawk.
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