Militants executed two Afghans in front of thousands of people Friday after accusing them of spying in Bajaur, while two other people died in clashes afterwards, officials said. Militants beheaded one man and shot the other after telling the crowd in Bajaur tribal district that the pair had passed information to US forces in Afghanistan that led to a deadly missile strike in May.
An AFP correspondent who witnessed the executions said more than 5,000 people had gathered at a patch of open ground 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Khar, the main town in Bajaur, to watch. "There was a public execution by militants of two people who were kidnapped two days ago by the militants on spying charges," a local security official told AFP.
The militants announced the charges against the men on megaphones alleging that their activities had led to the suspected US missile strike on May 14 in which 14 people were killed. "The men's faces were covered and their hands were tied. One was slaughtered with a knife amid shouts of Allahu akbar (God is greater), the other was shot with a burst of fire from a Kalashnikov," the AFP correspondent said.
After the executions the Taliban started firing in the air in jubilation, but when some shots were fired from within the crowd it sparked a brief gunbattle, witnesses said. "Firing broke out and in this incident two people were killed - one died on the spot and one later on his way to hospital," local tribal police chief Fazal-e-Rabi told AFP.
In May militants beheaded a Pakistani paramilitary soldier and dumped his corpse with a note saying that he was killed in revenge for the missile strike in the Damadola area of Bajaur. The missile strike targeted the houses of two local militant leaders, according to security officials.