Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Sunday that they had executed five men in the key northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif for spying for the United States.
''Two commanders by the name of Saboor and Yosuf along with their three men were executed for acts of sabotage, provoking people and spying for the Americans,'' said Abdul Hanan Himat, a Taliban information ministry official. The Taliban are fighting to hang onto Mazar-e-Sharif after troops of the opposition North Alliance have moved within five km of the key city that straddles supply routes toward the capital Kabul to the south.