Terrifying footage has emerged on social media appearing to show an Afghan anchorman read the news surrounded by armed members of the Taliban.
The footage was posted to Twitter on Sunday, August 29, by BBC journalist Kian Sharifi, which shows the presenter of Afghan TV's Peace Studio political debate program telling viewers to "not be afraid," The Sun reports.
In the 42-second clip which has been viewed over a million times, the presenter appears to be being stared down by two members of the Taliban as they hold their weapons.
The clip was posted with the caption: "With armed Taliban fighters standing behind him, the presenter of Afghan TV's Peace Studio political debate program says the Islamic Emirate (Taliban's preferred name) wants the public to 'cooperate with it and should not be afraid'.
"The program is called Pardaz. In this longer video, the presenter interviews a Taliban fighter who presumably outranks the rest of the lot in the studio. The presenter switches from Dari to Pashto, which unfortunately I don't speak."
While it's not known exactly when the footage was filmed, according to The Sun, the TV station was reportedly stormed by the militant group who asked the anchor to speak to them.
WIO News reports that the presenter was reading the news and engaging in a debate with the Taliban during the segment.
The footage comes amid the Taliban's attempts to appear "more moderate" amid their takeover of Afghanistan for the first time since 2001, per Tribune India.
The Publisher of Etilaatroz and KabulNow, Zaki Daryabi, took to Twitter to say of the footage: "This is what @Etilaatroz can't accept. If so, we will stop our work."
Iranian journalist Masih Alinejad also took to Twitter to comment on the footage, asking Joe Biden to watch it and "let us know if these militants posing behind this visibly petrified TV host are holding American weapons."
The journalist and activist continued: "This is surreal. Taliban militants are posing behind this visibly petrified TV host with guns and making him to say that people of #Afghanistan shouldn't be scared of the Islamic Emirate.
"Taliban itself is synonymous with fear in the minds of millions. This is just another proof."