Taliban militants fly US helicopter with man hanging from rope; video surfaces

Kabul: A new video has emerged in which a US Black Hawk helicopter can be seen flying over Kandahar in Afghanistan with a body hanging from a rope below.

Several journalists have shared the video on Twitter claiming the brutal Taliban have killed a man and hung him from the US military helicopter they took out to patrol the Kandahar province.

The footage purportedly shows a man dangling from the US military chopper as the Taliban fly it above the Kandahar province. The video shot from the ground doesn’t clearly show if the man tied to the chopper is alive, but reports have claimed that the Talibs had tied the body of a man they had killed.

However, the footage shared by the Talib Times, a Twitter account claiming to be affiliated with the Taliban, said, “Our Air Force! At this time, the Islamic Emirate’s air force helicopters are flying over Kandahar city and patrolling the city.”

The Daily Mail has said that the US had supplied at least 7 Black Hawk choppers to Afghanistan last month, in addition to the inventory it had built over the 20 years. All the defence equipment now remain abandoned in Afghanistan.

Soon after their hasty exit on Tuesday, the US military said that it has disabled 73 aircraft, 27 Humvees, weapons systems and other high-tech defence equipment before boarding the final flight.

Within hours of the withdrawal of the US troops from Kabul airport, the Taliban entered the premises and examined the Chinook choppers and other defence equipment left behind by the US Army. Videos showed the Badri 313 Battalion fighters examining the helicopters.

Later, after the Taliban fighters took control of the Kabul airport, videos emerged showing the Talibs racing cars and other vehicles on the Kabul airport runway. The Taliban leaders symbolically walked on the runway to declare victory after the 20 years of war in Afghanistan.

Another video shared by news agency AFP showed scores of US military choppers, aircraft and other defence systems lying idle in the hangars of the Kabul airport as the Badri 313 fighters walk around.

Before dawn broke, heavily armed Taliban fighters walked through hangars, passing some of the seven CH-46 helicopters the US State Department used in its evacuations before rendering them unflyable.

The Taliban are now in full control of Kabul's international airport after the last US plane left its runway, marking the end of America's longest war.