June 28, 2008	Saturday	Jamadi-us-Sani 23, 1429

KHAR, June 27: Militants in Bajaur Agency executed two Afghan nationals in public on Friday on charges of spying for the United Sates.

Two more people were killed and six others wounded when some militants resorted to firing in the air to express their approval of the grisly happening.

Witnesses said activists of Jaish-i-Islami brought two blindfolded men to a ground in Damadola. Thousands of tribesmen had gathered to witness the execution. Sources said the victims belonged to Afghanistan’s Kunar province.

A witness said the armed men slit their throats with knives and then showered them with a hail of bullets in front of the crowd. The militants held up their severed heads and took a round of the ground to the accompaniment of vociferous slogans.

Two people were killed and six others injured when misdirected bullets hit some people in the crowd while supporters of the Taliban opened fire in jubilation.

Jaish-i-Islami commander Wali Rehman told journalists that US forces had fired two missiles on a Taliban meeting in Damadola last month on the basis of information provided by the two ‘spies’. Several Taliban and civilians were killed in the attack.

Tehrik-i-Taliban spokesman Maulvi Umar claimed that the men had been awarded ‘death penalty’ by a local Taliban Shura in conformity with sharia laws. He said the men had confessed to their crime.