Afghanistan War News Updates -- August 28, 2012

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Frederick Reier addresses Afghan and U.S. soldiers on Joint Security Station Hasan before a partnered patrol in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, June 14, 2012. Reier, a platoon leader, is assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael J. MacLeod

Taliban Hit Afghans As U.S. Pulls Troops -- Wall Street Journal

Insurgent Fighters Behead 17 Civilians and Kill 10 Soldiers

KABUL—Taliban fighters beheaded 17 civilians and killed 10 Afghan soldiers in separate attacks in southern Helmand province, officials said, as Afghanistan's forces struggled to assert control over areas where the U.S. is withdrawing surge troops.

In another attack late Monday, an explosion targeting the convoy of the powerful police chief of Kandahar province, Gen. Abdul Raziq, killed two civilians and injured 17 others. Gen. Raziq, who worked in close cooperation with U.S. Special Operations Forces during recent offensives against the Taliban in Kandahar, was injured but his life was not in danger, the Kandahar provincial government said.

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More News on Afghanistan

ISAF Joint Command morning operational update, Aug. 28 -- ISAF
Coalition Forces Capture Key Taliban Leader -- US Department of Defense
ISAF Joint Command morning operational update -- Dvids

Police Chief in Afghanistan Survives Truck Bomb -- New York Times/Reuters
NATO Helicopter Crashes in Afghanistan -- ABC News/AP

Pentagon finds soldiers who burned Korans ignored Afghan warnings -- L.A. Times
Military punishes soldiers for Quran burning, Marines for urinating on Taliban corpses -- NBC
No charges in Afghanistan Quran burning -- Al Jazeera

Taliban brutality turns Afghans away -- USA Today
Did Taliban behead 17 people for dancing? Maybe not. -- Christian Science Monitor
Differing Theories in Killing of 17 in Taliban Stronghold -- New York Times
Afghan beheadings could signal confusion in Taliban ranks -- Reuters

The Tendency Towards Trigger-Happy Temper Tantrums -- Strategy Page
Why Washington's War on Drugs in Afghanistan Isn't Working -- Jonathan Marshall, Huffington Post
A bankrupt war policy takes its toll -- James Carroll, Philly.com
Darkening days in Afghanistan -- The Australian editorial
Robert Fox on Afghanistan future after UK troops leave -- BBC