Probe into video showing army killings ordered

Islamabad: Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kiyani ordered yesterday an investigation into a video posted on the internet showing men in Pakistani military fatigues shooting at a group of what the military said were civilians.

The video raised fresh questions about alleged extra-judicial killings by the army, while Pakistan faces mounting US pressure to crack down harder on militants launching attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan from Pakistani sanctuaries.

The US officials said last week they had asked Pakistan for information about the internet video purporting to show Pakistani troops lined up in a firing squad shooting bound and blindfolded men in traditional Pakistani clothing.

Human Rights Watch this year briefed the US State Department and congressional officials about evidence of more than 200 summary executions of suspected Taliban sympathisers by Pakistani soldiers in Swat, a former Taliban stronghold.

Pakistan denied the allegations.

Tom Malinowski, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters last week although the video's authenticity remained a subject of debate, the occurrence of such abuses was not.

The military said Kiyani vowed to take action if the perpetrators were found to be soldiers, and has set up a board of inquiry to establish the identity of "uniformed personnel".

Hasty conclusion

"It is not expected of a professional army to engage in excesses against the people whom it is trying to guard against the scourge of terrorism," the military quoted Kiyani as saying in a statement.

"[It is] unacceptable under any circumstances."

However, Kiyani cautioned against "reaching hasty conclusion" as previously militants had disguised themselves as soldiers during a number of attacks including one on military headquarters in the city of Rawalpindi last year.

Amateurish video

If the blurry, amateurish video is found to be genuine, it is likely to raise troubling questions for Washington about its support for an army which is vital for efforts to stabilise Afghanistan.

US law forbids funding foreign military units singled out for human rights violations.

The video has been on YouTube since late last month and has been circulated on blogs related to Pakistan, Afghanistan and the region, as well as on a Facebook page for a group called Pashtuns' International Association.

There is no clear indication in the video where the events occurred but it is labelled "Swat", a valley northwest of the capital, Islamabad, where many ethnic Pashtun people live.

The military drove most Pakistani Taliban militants from the valley after a couple of years of intermittent fighting.