Two foreign men, one Swiss, were stabbed and stoned to death in the Afghan capital, government officials said today.
"There were various injuries you could see on the head caused by stones and bricks," said Mr Ihsanullah Alimi, a doctor involved in the post-mortem.
"And there are also stab injuries on the head. And on one body, a rope seemed to have been tightened on the neck."
The bodies, clothed in local shalwar (baggy trousers), long shirts and woollen hats when found, were being examined by forensic experts.
Local residents informed police and led them to the bodies in Baghe Chilstone, an ancient garden not far from the city's centre, Interior Ministry spokesman Mr Lutfullah Mashal, said.
An investigation was under way to determine "who stoned these to death, and why," Mr Mashal said. "One of them holds a Swiss passport and the nationality of the other is not known."
Both had come from neighbouring Pakistan nine days ago, said Mr Khalil Aminzada, deputy chief of Kabul police. He said they were pelted with bricks and stones last night.
A local official at the Swiss embassy in Kabul said Swiss diplomats were informed about the deaths and were seeking more details from the authorities.
Stoning to death is a punishment proposed by Islam for adulterers. The practice was publicly administered by the ousted Taliban who ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 when a US-led military campaign overthrew the regime.
Taliban remnants are active in southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan, where more than 700 people including aid workers, civilians, government and US-led troops and militants have been killed since last August.
The deaths, mostly blamed on the militants, also include several attacks on the NATO-led foreign peacekeepers in Kabul.