Afghanistan’s Taliban has condemned a video that appears to show militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group blowing up bound and blindfolded Afghan prisoners with explosives.
The video highlights growing rivalries between Afghanistan’s Taliban and some militant factions who have sworn allegiance to the IS group.
The video appears to have been shot in eastern Afghanistan, where the Taliban and IS have clashed in recent months.
It describes the prisoners as "apostates" aligned with the Taliban or the Afghan government.
But the Taliban described them as civilians, saying it was “a horrific video…[showing] kidnappers who associate themselves with Daesh (IS) brutally martyring several white-bearded tribal elders and villagers with explosives.”
A Taliban statement said: “This offense and other such brutal actions by a few irresponsible, ignorant individuals under the guise of Islam and Muslims are intolerable.”
The Taliban are themselves often accused of brutality and killing innocent civilians.
The Taliban has suffered a string of recent defections to IS.