KANDAHAR, July 16: Taliban remnants hanged a pro-government tribal chief in the province of Zabul, accusing him of being an American spy, officials said on Saturday. The killing was the fifth in the past six weeks and came as violence mounts in the run up to the Sept 18 parliamentary elections that the Taliban have vowed to disrupt.

Malik Agha, chief of a powerful tribe in Zabul, was kidnapped on Friday by Taliban remnants and was hanged in a tree, district chief Gul Habib said.—Reuters