Gunmen have rounded up and shot dead dozens of civilians in central Afghanistan, prompting protests by locals about government failure to protect them.

Gunmen rounded up and shot dozens of civilians in a remote part of Afghanistan on Tuesday, UN officials said, in an attack that prompted angry protests from residents about government failure to protect them, according to Reuters.

Citing Afghan officials, Associated Press reported yesterday that Taliban insurgents have killed at least 20 Afghan civilians after abducting them in the remote central province of Ghor the previous day.

The slain civilians were from a group of 33 taken by the militants near the provincial capital of Ferozkoh, Ziauddin Saqib, the deputy provincial police chief, was cited as saying.

According to him, the abductions took place while battles were underway between the Taliban and Afghan security forces on Tuesday that saw two militant commanders killed.

Both commanders were infamous figures in Ghor and were involved in many anti-government activities, Saqib also said, adding that the “cowardly insurgents killed innocent civilians in revenge for their commanders killed by security forces.”

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Taliban insurgents denied responsibility and said the killings appeared to have been prompted by ethnic rivalries fueled by a clash over sheep-stealing.

The provincial governor's spokesman blamed fighters from Islamic State for the killings in the central-western province of Ghor, but there was no independent confirmation.

The militant group has hitherto been largely confined to the eastern province of Nangarhar, and other officials said they doubted it was involved.

Government security forces have long struggled to exert control in Ghor, a poor and mountainous province with sharp ethnic and tribal divisions and illegal armed groups that operate with impunity.

The United Nations, condemning the incident as an “atrocity”, said 26 men were killed by unidentified gunmen after being taken hostage while collecting firewood. It said the fate of other hostages remained unknown.

Local reports said the dead were Kuchi nomads.  Reuters notes that estimates of their number varied, with governor's spokesman Abdul Hai Khatibi putting the total at about 30, the Taliban saying 36 and some local people saying it was as high as 42.

“Afghan police killed a Daesh (an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State terrorist group) commander in Ghor province during an operation yesterday but Daesh fighters abducted some 30 civilians from near the provincial capital and shot them all dead in revenge,” Khatibi said on Wednesday.

He said the killings followed an attack by the militant group on Tuesday near Feroz Koh, capital of Ghor.

On October 26, Hundreds of people gathered in the town as bodies were prepared for burial and there were angry scenes as residents demanded government action.