Download
The Taliban beheaded 17 partygoers, including two women dancers, in Afghanistan's volatile Helmand province as punishment, recalling the darkest days of rule by the ultra-conservative Islamist insurgents before their ouster in 2001.
The bodies were found on Monday in a house near the Musa Qala district where a party was held on Sunday night with music and mixed-sex dancing, said district governor Nimatullah. Men and women do not usually mingle in Afghanistan unless they are related, and parties involving both genders are rare and kept secret.
The killings, about 75 km north of the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, came at the beginning of a violent 24 hours for NATO and Afghan authorities in which 10 Afghan soldiers were killed in a mass insurgent attack, also in Helmand, while two US soldiers were slain by a rogue Afghan soldier.
"The victims threw a late-night dance and music party when the Taliban attacked" on Sunday night, said Nimatullah, who only has one name.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
During their five-year reign, which was toppled by US-backed Afghan forces, sparking the present NATO-led war, the Taliban banned women from voting, most work and leaving their homes unaccompanied by their husband or a male relative.
Though those rights have been painstakingly regained, Afghanistan remains one of the worst places on Earth to be a woman.
Some democratic freedoms have also been wound back in what rights groups fear is an effort to reach a political reconciliation and possible power-sharing with the Taliban.
The Taliban gunmen stormed a lakeside hotel near Kabul in June demanding to know where the "prostitutes and pimps" were, witnesses said. Twenty people were killed.
The Taliban said they launched the attack on Qarga Lake because the hotel was used for "wild parties".
Helmand governor spokesman Daud Ahmadi said a team had been sent to the site of beheadings to investigate.
In another setback for NATO, an Afghan soldier shot dead two US troops in east Afghanistan on Monday, the latest in a series of insider killings that have strained trust between the allies ahead of a 2017 handover to Afghan security forces.
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.
2014考研英语作文列出提纲和主题句
2014考研英语作文预测话题以及核心词汇
2014考研英语常考题型作文和表作文
2014考研英语十篇必背英语的范文二
2014年考研英语作文十大热门话题科技与生活
2014考研英语作文表作文模板1
2014考研英语社会话题作文模板
2014考研英语作文模板范例礼貌
2014考研英语作文高分句型动名词分词结构
2014考研英语作文社会问题的写作
2014考研英语写作遵循的4个原则
2014考研英语写作高频词汇的大总结
2014考研英语作文热门模板健康食品
2014考研英语作文加分亮点句型的集锦(一)
2014年考研英语作文十大热门话题城市交通
2014考研英语表作文范文sitdown restaurant
2014考研英语表写作套句模板
2014考研英语作文十大常见话题的经典句型
2014考研英语表作文写作要领
2014考研英语作文热门模板手机的利弊
2014考研英语作文提纲式议论文作文模板7
2014考研英语作文热门模板减少校园浪费
2014年考研英语作文十大热门话题之乐观与豁达
2014考研英语作文预测出国留学
2014考研英语表作文范文Domestic market share
2014考研英语作文句型主语从句结构
2014年考研英语作文的精要词句
2014考研英语作文句型过渡句结构
2014考研英语十篇必背的英语范文一
2014考研英语表作文范文Different job inclination
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |