On June 16, 2021, Taliban fighters executed 22 unarmed Afghan special forces commandos at an open-air market in Dawlat Abad, a town in Faryab Province near the border with Turkmenistan.
After running out of ammunition during an intense firefight, the elite commandos emerged with their hands raised to surrender, but were shot in cold blood.

Despite calls from the Taliban for them to surrender and pleas from bystanders for the soldiers’ lives, Taliban militants opened fire and killed the commandos in an open-air market.
Among those executed was Sohrab Azimi, a prominent 32-year-old commando and son of a retired Afghan general, who had received military training in the United States.

The Taliban initially denied the execution, claiming that the video footage was false government propaganda, although these claims were categorically contradicted by numerous eyewitnesses and verified videos.