Kabul - A provincial spokesman said Wednesday that Taliban militants killed two male students for greeting a group of NATO soldiers in central Afghanistan, but the rebel website said they were executed for spying.

Ahmad Khalid, 20, and Eid Gul, 19, students at a high school in Sayed Abad district of the central province of Wardak, greeted a group of NATO soldiers passing by their village in a convoy, according to Adam Khan Serat, spokesman for the provincial governor.

"The boys only greeted the foreign soldiers and spoke a few words in English with them," Serat said. "The Taliban militants later came and took the boys to an unknown location."

Their bodies were dumped near their homes in Sangi village, he said.

But a statement posted at the Taliban website claimed the two students were executed because they were spying for US forces.

Taliban militants have killed dozens of Afghan villagers on charges of espionage for NATO and US-led forces since they were ousted from power in late 2001.

More than 2,100 civilians were killed in Afghan violence in 2008, 55 per cent of them by the Taliban-led insurgents and 39 per cent by the pro-government forces, according to a report issued by the United Nations office in Kabul on Tuesday.

Of the total number of civilians killed by the insurgents, 725 people were killed in suicide and roadside attacks, while another 271 civilians were killed in targeted assassinations, the UN said. (dpa)