KABUL, Dec 16: Afghan police said on Friday they had confronted Taliban fighters quizzing and assaulting motorists in eastern Afghanistan, including for listening to music, with one fighter killed in an ensuing gunfight.

Police had gone to the area in eastern Paktika province on Thursday after motorists complained they were searched by about 15 members of the Taliban movement, provincial head of security Ghulam Nadi Salim said.

The Taliban had stopped about 20 vehicles, mostly taxis and trucks, and demanded to know if the occupants worked for the government or one of the scores of aid groups in the country, he said.

They also accosted men who had shaved or people who were listening to music — both forbidden by the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001.

Several music cassettes were broken, he said.

“Around 20 Taliban students trained in Pakistan madressahs are here in this region and sometimes they are making problems for the local people and also the government,” Mr Salim said.

The fighter killed in the clash with police was from one of the mountain villages in the region, he said. —AFP