Afghanistan: 6-year-old girl beheaded -- "We are not sure if she was beheaded by her family or the Taliban"

The Taliban might have beheaded her as a warning of what happens to those who work with the Afghan government, although this story doesn't say whether or not her family members actually did work with the government -- it only notes that about the other child who was beheaded in Afghanistan. But anyway, why might her family have beheaded her? An honor killing? Or maybe she just left the crayons out?

And what exactly are we trying to accomplish by expending our blood and treasure in this barbaric, savage land where police chiefs can casually speculate that maybe this latest beheaded six-year-old child was beheaded by her family, as if it were the sort of thing that happens every day? And in Afghanistan, maybe it is.

"Two Afghan children beheaded in separate incidents," by Mirwais Harooni for Reuters, August 31 (thanks to David):

(Reuters) - An adolescent boy and a young girl have been beheaded in two separate incidents in Afghanistan, local officials and police said on Friday, in the latest brazen attacks that have raised fresh questions about a splintering Taliban.

A 12-year-old boy was kidnapped and killed in southern Kandahar province on Wednesday, his severed head placed near his body to send a warning to police, said provincial governor spokesman Jawid Faisal.

The brother of the boy, neither of whom were named by officials, was a member of the Afghan Local Police (ALP), a U.S.-trained militia charged with making Afghans in Taliban strongholds, like Kandahar, feel more secure, Faisal said.

"It's a Taliban warning to the ALP and to others who support the government," Faisal said of the killing, which happened in Kandahar's Panjwai district.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf denied the group was involved.

Separately, a 6-year-old girl was beheaded in eastern Kapisa province on Thursday, said provincial police chief Abdul Hamed.

"We are not sure if she was beheaded by her family or the Taliban, but we know the Taliban control the area," Hamed said of the killing in Jalukhil village. He added that he could not send investigators to the area out of fears for their safety.

The murders follow the shooting or beheading of 17 young revelers attending a party in southern Helmand province this week, which officials said was the work of the Taliban, a charge the group also denied....

"What we're seeing could be a new tactic by the Taliban to behead civilians to intimidate the population," said Faisal.

In Kandahar's Zhari district, officials also said on Friday that a 16-year-old boy accused by the Taliban of spying for the government was beheaded and skinned in late July....

The central Taliban leadership is trying to improve the group's image in case it wants to push forward tentative reconciliation steps and perhaps even enter mainstream politics. But some militant units are hard to control, roaming the countryside and attacking those deemed immoral....

Like six-year-old girls, perhaps? Some hair maybe was peeking out of her hijab? Perhaps she burned her 82-year-old husband's dinner?