Broadcast from Bagram: Taliban gives video tours of US prison known as Afghan Guantanamo Bay
Propaganda clips feature people claiming to be former prisoners at controversial jail showing cells and wire pens where they were once held
By Suddaf Chaudry KABUL and Ben Farmer ISLAMABAD |Telegraph
As the man being filmed gives a tour of the former American prison Bagram, he points to the places where he was abused by US soldiers.
"This is where they would handcuff us and tie our hands before shifting us somewhere else," he explains.
The Taliban propaganda unit has thrown open the gates of Afghanistan's ultra-secretive Bagram detention facility and shared videos of people claiming to be former US prisoners giving tours of cells and wire pens where they were once kept.
The clips posted on pro-Taliban accounts give one of the most complete glimpses yet of a controversial top-security facility that was considered key to American operations in the country.
It was used to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda foes during the war against terrorism, but was also criticised for numerous human rights abuses and compared to Guantanamo Bay. A US army watchdog report in 2005 found that detainees were regularly chained to the ceiling and beaten.
Videos shared showed Taliban members giving a walking tour of the cells and galleries and explaining how they were treated.
“This is where we used to be supplied food. They wouldn't open the door," said one man purporting to be a former prisoner. The Telegraph could not independently verify the video.
“Many people spent time here and some prisoners stayed for months."
In another clip a man says: “God forbid, the places for torture are here.”
A US captain at Bagram prison during a media tour in 2009 |CREDIT: AFP
The Bagram airbase, some 40 miles north of the capital, Kabul, became the seat of America's 20-year-long Afghan war almost as soon as US troops arrived.
Hundreds of prisoners were quickly captured as US troops scooped up those they believed to be part of the Taliban and other militant groups. The detainees were at first held in large open wire pens inside hangars and later in a purpose-built building that became Afghanistan's largest military prison.
The prison was soon mired in controversy, with at least two detainees dying in detention after being beaten and abused. Hamid Karzai, described it as a “Taliban-making factory” and demanded the prison be handed over to Afghan control.
In the newly released videos, the Taliban 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. The doctors don’t understand at the moment.”
When US troops departed Bagram airfield in early July, Afghan officials complained they had not been informed in advance and the first they knew was when the lights went out.