Footage of a U.S.-supplied Black Hawk aircraft with a man hanging underneath was posted on Sunday to Twitter by Talib Times, which claims to be an English-language official account of the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The video showed a Black Hawk aircraft that was seized by the Taliban after the U.S. troops withdrew from Kabul over the last two weeks.
"Our Air Force!" Talib Times posted to Twitter, as reported by the New York Post. "At this time, the Islamic Emirate's air force helicopters are flying over Kandahar city and patrolling the city."
The clip showed a person hanging below the Black Hawk chopper as it hovered in the sky. It was not immediately clear if the person was with many critics of the U.S. government jumping to the conclusion that it was a barbaric public execution.
The Talib Times Twitter account has been suspended, but the NY Post was able to upload a copy of the said video:
Newsweek reported that the video had not been independently-verified and was shared by several social media users a day before the last batch of U.S. troops were expected to leave Afghanistan. One user by the name of Chris pointed out, "The dude is alive by the way."
Some critics of the U.S. withdrawal immediately claimed that it was a public execution by the Taliban, which demonstrated their newfound power over Afghanistan. Indian TV host Sudhir Chaudhary, who is also the editor-in-chief of Zee News and WION, took to Twitter to say that the footage of the U.S.-supplied Black Hawk operated by the Taliban was "Another landmark picture taking the world in a new era of terror."
"Taliban hang a person, presumed to be an American interpreter, from a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter. The leftover US helicopters will now be used in #Afganistan like this," Chaudhary claimed. Conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler also chimed in, saying she "could vomit" from watching the footage of "what it looks like...the Taliban hanging somebody from an American Blackhawk."
"Joe Biden is responsible," Wheeler declared. The Right Scoop piled on the public execution theory, WND reported, as the report said, "I can't imagine this could be anything other than a public execution by the Taliban. Why else would you hang a man from a helicopter like this?"
The Talib Times took to Twitter to share another clip of the "first flight of Black Hawk" after the Islamic militant group was caught making failed attempts to fly U.S. helicopters that they seized following the fall of the Afghan government two weeks ago. According to the White House, it is unclear how much military equipment the Taliban took for themselves, but it did include several Black Hawks that were provided to the Afghan National Security Forces.
An earlier report from The Gateway Pundit, however, revealed that as per public record the Taliban was able to seize UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters in addition to the tens of thousands of vehicles and aircraft including MD530G scout attack helicopters, Military Version Cessnas, and C-130 planes.
The U.S. government insists that it "demilitarized" at least 73 aircraft to prevent its use in the hands of the Taliban. Central Command head Gen. Kenneth McKenzie said, "Those aircraft will never fly again...They'll never be able to be operated by anyone."