Afghan villagers hang Taliban fighters as battle for district rages
By Mustafa Andalib GHAZNI Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan villagers hanged four captured Taliban militants from a tree on Saturday as security forces battled the insurgents for a sixth day in a district of Ghazni province, an official said. The hangings were carried out after Taliban fighters had killed more than 100 people in the area in the past week, including more than a dozen who were beheaded, Ghazni Deputy Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi said. The battle in the Ajrestan district of Ghazni, southwest of the capital Kabul, is part of an escalation in attacks by the Taliban around the country as the militants take advantage of dwindling U.S. air support as foreign forces leave. The assault by an estimated 700 Taliban fighters began about six days ago but Afghan army commando reinforcements and the threat of NATO air strikes have so far prevented the district from falling under Taliban control, Ahmadi said. Heavy fighting continued on Saturday in Ajrestan, in the far west of the province. The four captured militants were handed over to residents in Arzakai village, according to Ahmadi, who also uses the name Ahmadullah Ahmadi. It was unclear who handed the men over to the villagers or why. Army commandos supported by aircraft from the U.S.-led military coalition arrived on Friday to help local army and police, Ahmadi said. "Coalition jets were in the air, but they did not bombard the area because of fears of civilian casualties," he said. Foreign forces' air support will end entirely after international combat troops leave Afghanistan at the end of the year. The withdrawal will end a mission that began with the 2001 ouster of the Taliban former government, which applied a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, after it refused to hand over Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. In a reminder of the deadly justice dispensed during the Taliban's rule that started in 1996, three people accused of kidnapping and theft were publicly hanged in eastern Paktia province overnight, police said. "They all were criminals, but there is a judicial system in the country (that is supposed) to punish them," said Paktia police chief General Zalamai Oriakhil. Villagers in Zurmat district who woke up to the hanging bodies this morning told Reuters that the Taliban had warned them against taking them down for the next three days. While Afghan government forces remain in control of provincial centres in Afghanistan, districts across the country, such as in Paktia, have fallen largely under Taliban control. Along with the retreat of foreign coalition forces and fewer U.S. airstrikes, the insurgency has also been emboldened by months of political turmoil after a disputed presidential election which demoralised security forces. The election crisis ended with a power-sharing deal that will see winner Ashraf Ghani sworn in as president Monday, with runner-up Abdullah Abdullah expected to be named to a position with powers similar to those of a prime minister. (Additional reporting by Samihullah Paiwand in Gardez; Writing by Kay Johnson and Jessica Donati; Editing by Jason Neely)
