10 Afghan soldiers beheaded

10 July 2005, 18:00 PM

AP, AFP, Kandahar/ Kabul

Suspected Taliban gunmen ambushed an Afghani government border patrol in the desert near the frontier with Pakistan, killing 10 soldiers and beheading their bodies, a provincial governor said yesterday.

The victims served on a 25-member patrol in southern Helmand province that was attacked late Saturday by militants driving four pickup trucks, said provincial Gov. Sher Mohammed Aghunzada. The remaining 15 soldiers escaped.

"The Taliban cut the heads off all the soldiers who were killed," he said. Aghunzada said the dead soldiers' bodies had been recovered.