A bloody day in Afghanistan has seen 17 civilians decapitated while taking part in a celebration in a Taliban-controlled area, 10 Afghan troops killed at a checkpoint and two Nato soldiers shot by an Afghan colleague.
The victims of the beheadings at a village in Musa Qala district, southern Helmand province, were part of a larger group at a party involving music and mixed-sex dancing, according to local officials.
The bodies were found on Monday in the house where a party was held on Sunday night.
"I can confirm that this is the work of the Taliban," Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for Helmand's provincial governor, said.
"Two women and 15 men were beheaded. They were partying with music in an area under the control of the Taliban."
He added it was not clear if the victims had been shot before their heads were cut off.
Before the Taliban was forced from power by a US-led invasion in 2001, it tried to prevent men and women from mixing and banned women from leaving home without their husband or a male relative.
Haji Musa Khan, a tribal elder in Musa Qala district, said the region had seen a surge in such killings in recent months.
"We had three people beheaded during the month of Ramadan. Another person, the son of a tribal elder, was beheaded recently," he said.
Mr Khan said the killings followed major military operations by Afghan and Nato troops in the area.
Just a few hours after the beheadings, a checkpoint elsewhere in Helmand came under attack leaving 10 Afghan soldiers dead. Five others left with the attackers, it was not clear if they were kidnapped or joined the insurgents.
Two US soldiers were also killed in the east of the country in what appeared to be the latest attack by an Afghan soldier on his American colleagues.
The deaths in Laghman province brought to 12 the number of foreign soldiers killed this month in "insider" attacks, prompting Nato to increase security, including requiring soldiers to carry loaded weapons at all times on base.
Brigadier General Gunter Katz, spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said the attacks would not lead to less co-operation with Afghan troops, as it prepares to pull out in 2014.
"These incidents will not affect our operation. The campaign is on track. We effectively fight the insurgency and, most importantly, we continue to fight alongside our partners from the Afghan security forces," he said.
Afghan officials said the latest so-called green-on-blue killing was different from the others as it appeared to be an accident.
Noman Hatefi, a spokesman for the Afghan army corps in eastern Afghanistan, said the soldier fell and accidentally discharged his weapon when the unit he was with came under fire from insurgents.
"He didn't do this intentionally. But then the commander of the unit started shouting at him, 'What did you do? You killed two Nato soldiers.' And so, he threw down his weapon and started to run," he said.
The spokesman added that the Afghan soldier was killed by air support called in to assist with the firefight.
