Afghan villagers have hanged four captured Taliban militants from a tree as security forces battled the insurgents for a sixth day in a district of Ghazni province.

The hangings were carried out after Taliban fighters had killed over 100 people in the area in the past week, including more than a dozen who were beheaded, according to Ghazni deputy governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi. The battle in the Ajrestan district of Ghazni, southwest of the capital Kabul, is part of an escalation of Taliban attacks around the country.