A new travel video is doing the rounds on Taliban-linked social media channels — and it's nothing like the typical tourism pitch.

The 50-second clip, reportedly created by Yosaf Aryubi, founder of Kabul-based tour operator Raza Afghanistan, opens with a parody of a hostage scene: three hooded figures kneeling before five armed men.

One of them deadpans, “We have one message for America”, only to pull off a bag and reveal a tourist gleefully declaring, “Welcome to Afghanistan!” with a cheery thumbs-up.

What follows is a montage that's part propaganda, part tourism reel, and entirely provocative.

Armed men grin and flash peace signs, travellers do pull-ups on tanks, and rifles, one marked “Property of US Government”, are brandished with offhanded humour.

Then the tone lightens. The clip shifts to scenes of Afghans and foreign tourists enjoying meals by rivers, slurping milkshakes, visiting markets, and marvelling at landscapes, a flower stuck in a gun barrel, a parrot perched on a diner's head.

Yosaf, who divides his time between California and Kabul, said the video was designed to challenge stereotypes of West's grim portrayal of Afghanistan.

“It mocks how most of the West sees Afghanistan and then shows a bit of the reality that our guests experience,” he told The Independent. His packages reportedly offer a mix of cultural immersion, historical sites, and adventure, from cave-dwelling communities to ancient citadels.

Despite persistent travel warnings from the US state department, which has maintained that Afghanistan remains high-risk with ongoing threats of kidnapping, Yosaf claims his tours are secure.

“Getting around Afghanistan is an adventure in and of itself,” he said, adding that his team ensures guests’ safety through constant coordination with local authorities.

According to reports, tourist numbers have seen a surprising spike since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, from just 691 arrivals then to 7,000 by 2023.