Viral video: Taliban forces go rollerblading while carrying rifles on Kabul roads

Carrying AK-47 rifles and wearing camouflaged uniforms, Afghanistan’s Taliban forces were recently seen zooming down Kabul’s roads — while on rollerblades. But why?

The Internet was both baffled and amused: Why will gun-toting military officers suddenly go skating on busy highways?

In the video that has now gone viral, the Taliban troops are seen holding onto the sides of a speeding camouflaged pickup truck before launching themselves and hitting the road on their rollerblades.

Media outlets that reported the video said the Taliban appeared to be patrolling the roads.

This, however, isn’t exactly the case. The clips that were shared several times on social media were taken from a 22-minute video on YouTube.

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It was uploaded by content creator Yadullah Marvi, who described himself as a parkour athlete in Afghanistan. He has about 1,790 subscribers and, out of 14 videos he has shared, the rollerblading Taliban was the most popular with nearly 160,000 views. It was posted on November 11.

Here's the original video:

Marvi described the scene as a “military performance of figure skating in the streets of Kabul”.

“The movements of our figure skaters were filmed and people’s reactions were also filmed,” he added.

The content creator said it was only the first part of the full coverage. More videos of Taliban on skates can be expected.

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