The Taliban Hangs Tribal Chief

Well, despite how often Mr Bush tells us the Taliban is gone, kaput, and no longer an issue, they keep doing damage.

Here's this:

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Taliban guerrillas hanged a pro-government tribal chief in the troubled southern Afghan province of Zabul, accusing him of being an American spy, officials said on Saturday. Malik Agha's killing was the fifth in the past six weeks and came as violence mounts in the run up to the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections that the Taliban have vowed to disrupt.

Agha was kidnapped on Friday by Taliban remnants as he came out of a mosque in Atghar district of Zabul and was hanged in a tree, district chief Gul Habib said.

Agha was the chief of a powerful tribe in Zabul near the border with Pakistan, he said.