Taliban beheads two boys as ‘warning’

Taliban fighters beheaded two boys aged 10 and 16 as a warning to villagers not to cooperate with the Afghan government, local officials said.

The boys, named Khan and Hameedullah, had travelled to Afghan army and police checkpoints near their home in the southern province of Kandahar, scrounging for leftover food to bring to their families, the officials said.

“The boys were on their way back ... when they were stopped by Taliban insurgents who beheaded them,” said the chief of Zhari district, Jamal Agha. “Both of them were innocent children and had nothing to do with government or foreigners.”