Taliban behead four Afghan roadworkers

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban insurgents beheaded four Afghan road-workers in the northeast of the country after their families failed to pay a ransom for their release, the Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

Afghanistan has seen a sharp rise in violence over the past two years as Taliban insurgents have stepped up their fight to overthrow the pro-Western Afghan government and eject foreign troops. Taliban insurgents have often targeted workers on government and foreign-backed infrastructure projects.

The four Afghans were kidnapped last week while working on a road project in the northeastern province of Nuristan a week ago, the ministry said. The insurgents demanded money for their release and beheaded them after the families failed to pay up.

The Afghan government, backed by U.S. and allied forces, is working on extending its poor network of roads to try to bring development to the country, one of the poorest in the world.

More than 6,000 people were killed last year in Afghanistan, many of them civilians, the worst year of violence since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001 for failing to give up al Qaeda leaders in the wake of the September 11 attacks.

(Writing by Jon Hemming; editing by Philippa Fletcher)