The Afghan Mujahideen used this sophisticated method of executing "infidels" not only and not so much to satisfy their sadistic inclinations - the "Red Tulip" was a means of intimidating the "Shuravi".
Why didn't they kill right away
According to the recollections of the surviving prisoners of war, the spooks never missed the opportunity to convert their prisoners to Islam. If they did not heed the insistent demands, the most sophisticated in their cruelty methods of killing were applied to them. A captured soldier or officer could have been lucky if the "spirits" intended to exchange him for their fellow countrymen, captured by the Soviet Army, or demonstratively transfer them to human rights activists, showing ostentatious generosity.
In radical Islam, there is a mention of the Mujahid's getting to heaven if he tortures a non-believer to death. In addition, in the Afghan society, which was rather backward in terms of civilized development, there were still strong residual pagan remnants, according to which human sacrifices were necessarily accompanied by torture. In general, the "Red Tulip" was an ideal method of psychological influence on the enemy, this kind of slow and extremely painful killing was used to intimidate the "shuravi".
What is this torture
American journalist George Criel left a description of the use of the "Red Tulip". At first, the prisoner was drugged, making him unconscious. Then they hung up by the hands and cut the skin, wrapped it up. The painful shock drove the victim to insanity. After the end of the drug exposure, a slow painful death followed.
Promotional video:
According to the most rough estimates, dozens of Soviet servicemen were subjected to this execution.
How else did the spooks torture
According to the memoirs of the Soviet international journalist Iona Andronov, he witnessed how the mujahideen in Afghanistan mocked the captured Soviet servicemen. Iona Ionovich was shown corpses with severed ears and noses, ripped bellies with severed heads thrust inside …
Once the "spirits" captured an entire column of Soviet trucks, along with 33 servicemen. Only 4 days later, what was left of the drivers and the warrant officer was found - the bodies of the dead were dismembered, and the severed remains of the bodies were scattered in the dust. The eyes of the dead were gouged out, their genitals were cut off, their stomachs were ripped open and gutted … As the counterintelligence officers later found out, the prisoners were cut with knives by civilians of several villages, from women and children to the elderly. In the end, the mutilated, bound soldiers were stoned and the spooks began to mock the still living servicemen.
On another occasion, a junior sergeant, who survived the battle in the Maravary gorge, told about how Soviet prisoners were cut and chopped with axes by teenagers from an Afghan village. He watched all this from the reeds, where he hid. The wounded were finished off by teenage children, and the dogs tore up the dying. Young "spirits" dismembered bodies, gouged out their eyes … And all this was done under the approving grins and encouragement of the adult Mujahideen.