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| Young Girl and Boy Found Beheaded in Afghanistan | Young Girl and Boy Found Beheaded in Afghanistan |
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| KABUL, Afghanistan — The decapitated bodies of a 7-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy found Friday in the country’s south and east continued a spate of grisly beheadings in Afghanistan this week. | KABUL, Afghanistan — The decapitated bodies of a 7-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy found Friday in the country’s south and east continued a spate of grisly beheadings in Afghanistan this week. |
| The body of the boy was discovered in the rural Panjwai district of Kandahar Province in the south, where the Taliban retain command of some areas despite regular clearing operations by American and Afghan forces. | The body of the boy was discovered in the rural Panjwai district of Kandahar Province in the south, where the Taliban retain command of some areas despite regular clearing operations by American and Afghan forces. |
| Local residents and officials said the Taliban had killed the boy because his brother and uncle were members of the local police. The Taliban denied killing him. | Local residents and officials said the Taliban had killed the boy because his brother and uncle were members of the local police. The Taliban denied killing him. |
| There was no immediate explanation for the killing of the girl, whose body was found in a garden in the Tagab district of eastern Kapisa Province, said the governor of Kapisa, Mehrabudin Safi. Mr. Safi said she had been killed on Thursday. “So far it is not clear to the security forces who was behind this beheading,” he said. “The Taliban have not claimed responsibility for it.” | There was no immediate explanation for the killing of the girl, whose body was found in a garden in the Tagab district of eastern Kapisa Province, said the governor of Kapisa, Mehrabudin Safi. Mr. Safi said she had been killed on Thursday. “So far it is not clear to the security forces who was behind this beheading,” he said. “The Taliban have not claimed responsibility for it.” |
| On Sunday, 15 men and 2 women were beheaded in a Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province, in the south. | On Sunday, 15 men and 2 women were beheaded in a Taliban stronghold in Helmand Province, in the south. |
| The boy who was killed had been sent by his father from their home in the Zhari district to Spirwan in the Panjwai District to borrow money from a landowner on Wednesday. The journey would take at least a couple of hours through a dusty desert region of mud-bricked villages and vineyards in western Kandahar. But four Taliban fighters on motorcycles picked up the boy, local officials said. | The boy who was killed had been sent by his father from their home in the Zhari district to Spirwan in the Panjwai District to borrow money from a landowner on Wednesday. The journey would take at least a couple of hours through a dusty desert region of mud-bricked villages and vineyards in western Kandahar. But four Taliban fighters on motorcycles picked up the boy, local officials said. |
| “He was killed because I am supporting the government,” said the boy’s uncle, Mullah Zianullah, who was a former Taliban commander in Panjwai but last year joined the peace and reintegration process in Kandahar and is now leading the local police in Spirwan. “There is nothing else except killing.” | “He was killed because I am supporting the government,” said the boy’s uncle, Mullah Zianullah, who was a former Taliban commander in Panjwai but last year joined the peace and reintegration process in Kandahar and is now leading the local police in Spirwan. “There is nothing else except killing.” |
| Mullah Zianullah has a reputation for tough dealing with the Taliban, ordering his officers to shoot insurgents on the spot, local residents said. The Taliban, in turn, had warned him that no one in his family was safe. | Mullah Zianullah has a reputation for tough dealing with the Taliban, ordering his officers to shoot insurgents on the spot, local residents said. The Taliban, in turn, had warned him that no one in his family was safe. |
| A village elder who did not give his name offered another reason that the boy, who was not named, set out through Taliban territory: he had worked on a poppy field last year but had not been paid and was going to claim his wages. | A village elder who did not give his name offered another reason that the boy, who was not named, set out through Taliban territory: he had worked on a poppy field last year but had not been paid and was going to claim his wages. |
| Whatever the reason for the boy’s journey, as soon as the Taliban discovered his family’s involvement with the Afghan Local Police, a local militia trained by American forces, they were swift with their punishment, local officials said. | Whatever the reason for the boy’s journey, as soon as the Taliban discovered his family’s involvement with the Afghan Local Police, a local militia trained by American forces, they were swift with their punishment, local officials said. |
| “The boy was beheaded immediately and his headless body dumped on the main road in Spirwan,” said Javed Faisal, the spokesman for the Kandahar governor. | |
| A spokesman for the Taliban, reached by phone, denied the accounts. “Our supreme leader strictly prohibited beheading,” said the spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, referring to the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. “We are not only rejecting it, but condemning whoever carried it out.” | A spokesman for the Taliban, reached by phone, denied the accounts. “Our supreme leader strictly prohibited beheading,” said the spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, referring to the Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar. “We are not only rejecting it, but condemning whoever carried it out.” |
| But this was no consolation for the boy’s uncle, who said in a telephone interview that he could not go to Spirwan to claim his nephew’s body for fear of further Taliban retribution. | But this was no consolation for the boy’s uncle, who said in a telephone interview that he could not go to Spirwan to claim his nephew’s body for fear of further Taliban retribution. |
| “We have been told by people living there that the body was buried there, but we cannot go to bring the body back and the other people are afraid to help us,” he said. | “We have been told by people living there that the body was buried there, but we cannot go to bring the body back and the other people are afraid to help us,” he said. |
Graham Bowley reported from Kabul and Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan. Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting from Kabul. | Graham Bowley reported from Kabul and Taimoor Shah from Kandahar, Afghanistan. Jawad Sukhanyar contributed reporting from Kabul. |