JIHADI JAIL
Taliban release propaganda video of ‘Afghan Guantanamo’ showing ‘bloodstained’ cells where inmates ‘were tortured’
THE Taliban have released a video showing former US prison where it says its fighters were tortured.
In the propaganda footage shot at Bagram – known as the Afghan Guantanamo Bay – a man giving the tour points to cells he says are stained in blood.
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Bagram Airfield was the centre of American operations in Afghanistan and was used for interrogating prisoners captured in the hunt al-Qaeda terrorists in the wake of 9/11.
Over the years, the US military has been accused of torturing prisoners in the secretive jail 40 miles from Kabul, before they were taken to Guantanamo Bay itself – which it has denied.
The Taliban has now given a tour of the jail and shared video of people claiming to be former US prisoners giving walking tours of cells and pens where they were held,
“God forbid the places of torture are here – there are blood [stains] of the people here,” says one man claiming to be an ex-prisoner in the video, which has not been independently verified.
Pointing to a slit at the bottom of a cell door, the man says: “This is where we used to be supplied food.
“They wouldn't open the door. This is where they would handcuff us and tie our hands before shifting us somewhere else.
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“Many people spent time here and some prisoners stayed for months."
Two men were allegedly beaten to death at Bagram in 2002 and the families of those held there said they never heard from their relatives after they entered the jail.
Human rights lawyers said the prison also held scores of innocent people, many seized after tip-offs from feuding tribal rivals.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai once described it as a “Taliban-making factory” and demanded it be handed over to local control.
After the US said it would withdraw from Afghanistan, its forces reportedly left Bagram by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night on July 2 without telling its new Afghan commander.
The Americans left behind about 3.5 million items, including tens of thousands of bottles of water, energy drinks and military ready-made meals, known as MREs.
They also left behind thousands of civilian vehicles, without keys, and hundreds of armoured vehicles.
The Taliban captured the base during their lightning advance on Kabul, which stunned the world and saw them return to power 20 years after they were kicked out of power.
The fanatics said they had also captured large amounts of military and medical equipment when they seized the prison and airbase.
“We have brought doctors with us and requested their expertise,” said one fighter interviewed.
“But they also don’t know how to use the equipment, because the equipment is far too modern.”
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