A video obtained by CNN of the Taliban executing 22 Afghan commandos as they surrendered has exacerbated criticism of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan ordered by President Joe Biden.
The massacre, which human-rights groups have described as an apparent war crime, adds to the many questions being asked about the Afghan military's capacity to defeat or even contain the Taliban now that the US is pulling out.
Responding to the news of the executed Afghan commandos, GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a US Air Force veteran who flew missions in Afghanistan, tweeted, "This is horrible-yet it's the reality of announcing the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Removing the peacekeepers and leaving the Afghan people without support is a grave mistake, Mr. President."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday called Biden's Afghanistan withdrawal a "global embarrassment."
The incident took place on June 16 in the town of Dawlat Abad in Faryab province, which is close to Afghanistan's border with Turkmenistan. The Taliban dismissed the video as a fabrication. But the Red Cross confirmed that 22 bodies were retrieved, and CNN spoke with witnesses and verified videos of the incident.