Taliban hang 4 bodies on public display, call it a lesson in 'kidnappings'

Herat province's deputy governor Mawlawi Shir Ahmad Muhajir said the kidnappers' corpses were displayed in various places on the same day of their killing to teach a "lesson" that kidnapping will not be tolerated, reported AFP.

The AFP report said that graphic images on social media showed dead bodies strewn in blood on the back of a pick-up truck while a crane hoisted one man up.

Another image showed a dead body hung from a crane in a major roundabout in Herat. The Taliban put a sign on his chest that read "Abductors will be punished like this".

This is the most high-profile public punishment since the Taliban grabbed power in Afghanistan and an indication that the armed group will adopt fearsome measures similar to their previous rule from 1996 to 2001.

On Saturday morning, a businessman and his son were abducted. After the security forces were informed, police sealed the roads out of the city and the Taliban intercepted the men at a checkpoint where "an exchange of fire happened", Muhajir said, the report said.

"As a result of a few minutes of fighting, one of our Mujahideen was wounded and all four kidnappers were killed," Muhajir said in a recorded statement sent to AFP.

"We are the Islamic Emirate. No one should harm our nation. No one should kidnap," he said in the video clip.

Mujahir told AFP that there had been other incidents of kidnapping in the city.

He said a boy was rescued while one kidnapper was killed and three others were arrested, but in another case, the "Taliban failed and the abductors were able to make money".

"It saddened us a lot because while we are in Herat, our people are being abducted," Muhajir said.

"In order to be a lesson for other kidnappers not to kidnap or harass anyone, we hung them in the squares of the city and made this clear to everyone that anyone who steals or abducts or does any action against our people will be punished."