Pakistan to probe Internet 'killings'

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Kayani on Friday ordered an investigation into a video posted on the Internet purporting to show Pakistani troops lined up in a firing squad shooting bound and blindfolded men in traditional Pakistani clothing.

The video has raised fresh questions about alleged extra-judicial killings by the army, while Pakistan faces mounting pressure from the United States to crack down harder on militants launching attacks on Western forces in Afghanistan from Pakistani sanctuaries.

Human Rights Watch this year briefed the US State Department and congressional officials about evidence of more than 200 summary executions of suspected Taliban sympathizers by Pakistani soldiers in the Swat area, a former Taliban stronghold. Pakistan has denied the allegations.