Faizul Rehman, a fourth-year student at Kabul Polytechnic University, was hanged in front of a crowd of locals in the village of Sewaka in Chak district of Maidan Wardak province, about 60 kilometers west of the capital, on Friday; Press TV reported.

According to Abdul Rahman Manga, a spokesman for the governor of the province, the militants claimed that Rehman had been involved in the assassination of a local Taliban intelligence official identified as Mullah Mirwais.

"Local elders tried to mediate to release him, but they failed," Manga further said on Saturday, adding that the ill-fated student was traveling home from Kabul to spend his holiday in the district on Thursday when he was caught by the militants.

Afghanistan's Tolo television news network also reported that the militants had further accused Rehman of spying.

The Afghan Interior Ministry confirmed the execution and said they had initiated an investigation into the case "to arrest and punish the perpetrators of this criminal act."

Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the United States and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror in 2001. Many parts of the country remain plagued by militancy despite the presence of foreign troops.

During the past 15 years, the Taliban militants have been conducting terrorist attacks across the country, killing and displacing civilians.

They regrouped after the death of their former leader, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, earlier in the year and are reported to be currently in control of some areas in Afghanistan.

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