Taliban insurgents have beheaded seven Afghan civilians accused of spying for foreign and Afghan government forces in the past 10 days, a senior Afghan intelligence official claimed today.
Taliban militants have increasingly resorted to executing those they accuse of spying for Nato and US-led forces in the last two years while continuing its campaign of suicide and roadside bombs.
"In the last 10 days the Taliban beheaded seven Afghan civilians without any proof," said the intelligence official who declined to be named.
He said the killings had taken place across the country, but mostly around Kandahar, Ghazni and other areas of the south.
"The Taliban are putting pressure on civilians to gain support. When these people are caught they are tortured first and then beheaded."
He said Taliban insurgents became suspicious whenever US or Nato-led forces launched air strikes, believing they must have been guided from someone on the ground.
A Taliban spokesman said there was proof against those executed including laser equipment used for guiding air strikes.
"We have captured many spies providing information about the Taliban to foreign troops. When we catch any spy, we behead him," Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said.
Some 6,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan, around 1,500 of them civilians, in the last 18 months, the worst period of violence in the country since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in 2001.