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Taliban execute gay man secretly, send video of killing to his family

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Members of the Taliban in Afghanistan have reportedly secretly executed a gay man and later sent a video of the gruesome murder to his family.

An LGBTQ+ activist group, Behesht Collective, reported on Tuesday that the victim, a 22-year-old man identified as Hamed Sabouri from Kabul, who was kidnapped two months ago, was shot in the back of the head in the video sent to his mother.

A friend of the victim who identified himself only as Bahar, said Sabouri was a shy young man who had dreams of becoming a doctor before the Taliban seized power last year following the abrupt departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan.

Read also:Taliban reveals 21 casualties in aftermath of Kabul Mosque bombing

Bahar lamented that since the Taliban returned to power, they had commenced a campaign of targeting, torturing, and killing anyone suspected of being LGBTQ+, creating a climate of fear and terror.

“Life is hell for every LGBT Afghan. Taliban terrorists are worse than wild animals.” Bahar, himself a gay man and member of Behesht Collective, said.

Bahar said he learned of Sabouri’s execution via cell phone, causing him to immediately delete all pictures of and communications with Sabouri.

He said he took the action as the Taliban will regularly seize the phones of men suspected of being gay which has forced some gay men in the country to scrub or even delete their social media accounts, “as the Taliban will regularly search for profiles with LGBTQ+ content.”

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