Afghanistan, Saturday 25 Oct 2008: More than 1,000 demonstrators shouted anti Taliban slogans in eastern Afghanistan to protest the slayings this week of 26 young men from their community by militants in the south.

The unprecedented demonstration Friday in the eastern Laghman province was one of the largest anti-Taliban gatherings since the fall of the hard-line Islamist regime following the US invasion in late 2001.

On Sunday, Taliban militants stopped a bus in southern Kandahar province’s Maiwand district, a militant-controlled area, and killed 26 of the passengers, beheading at least six of them. A Taliban official said the men were targeted because they were members of Afghan security forces.

But Afghan officials disputed that any soldiers were on the bus, saying the Taliban insurgents had killed innocent civilians who were on their way to find jobs in neighboring Iran.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans cross illegally into Iran every year, seeking jobs and refuge.