A young woman has reportedly been beheaded by a group of Taliban militants after visiting a market in northern Afghanistan.

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The horrific act allegedly took place in the remote village of Larri in Sar-e pul province on Monday by a group of armed men believed to be linked to the Islamic extremist group.

Provincial Governor spokesman Zabiullah Amani said the 30-year-old woman was apparently targeted because she “went to the city alone without her husband”, the Nation reported.

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Amani claims the victim’s husband is currently in Iran and the couple don’t have children.

Nasima Arzoo, head of the women’s affairs department for the area, also confirmed the incident.

She said: “The woman was beheaded with a bayonet attached to an AK-47 after an argument with Taliban in her remote village, which is part of the provincial capital.”

But according to Khamma Press, an Afghan news agency, Taliban insurgents rejected any involvement saying the woman was beheaded by unidentified gunmen.

No arrests have been made.

The Sar-e pul province has been under Taliban control ever since it was captured in 1998.

After coming into power, the Taliban declared that women were forbidden to go to work and were not to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male family member and had to wear an all-covering burqa.

Earlier this month, a couple kidnapped by the Taliban have described their “nightmare” in a chilling video alongside their two children who were born in captivity.

Canadian Joshua Boyle, 33, and his American wife Caitlan Coleman, 31, were captured four years ago in Afghanistan.

Coleman was seven months pregnant when she and her husband were taken near Kabul when backpacking through central Asia.

Her eldest son is now aged four while it is unclear when her youngest son was born.

Before the release of the video, the children had never been seen in public.

This story first appeared in The Sun.