Taliban hangs seven-year-old boy accused of spying

The Taliban has executed a 7-year-old boy, it has been reported. The child, whom the Taliban accused of being a spy for the Afghanistan government, has reportedly been hanged, after being placed on trial and found guilty.

The boy was killed on Tuesday in Helmand province. When asked about the incident, Afghan president Hamid Karzai said the following,

"A seven-year-old boy cannot be a spy. A seven-year-old boy cannot be anything but a seven-year-old boy. And therefore, hanging or shooting to kill a seven-year-old, regardless of whatever reason one would give for it, is a crime against humanity."

While the so-called spy label has been used as a reason by the Taliban, Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand province, gave another. He said that the killing happened days after the boy's grandfather, Abdul Woodod Alokozai, spoke out against militants in their home village.

"His grandfather is a tribal elder in the village and the village is under the control of the Taliban. His grandfather said some good things about the government and he formed a small group of people to stand against the Taliban. That's why the Taliban killed his grandson in revenge."

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Execution Date Set for John Allen Muhammad, the D.C. Sniper

Mark Nov. 10th on your calendar. On Wednesday, Prince William County Circuit Judge Mary Grace O'Brien set that date for the execution of John Allen Muhammad, who with teenage accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo was was involved in the 2002 sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area that left 10 dead.

Muhammad was sentenced to death for the slaying of Dean Meyers, one of 10 people shot to death during a 2002 killing spree that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area. Malvo is serving life in prison for the murders.

The date was picked during an early morning conference call with the judge, the attorney general's office and Jonathan Sheldon, Muhammad's attorney. Originally the AG's office requested that the execution be on Nov. 9th, O'Brien chose a day later, Tuesday, in case courts are required to address last-minute appeals.

Sheldon said Muhammad will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and ask Gov. Timothy M. Kaine for clemency. It is unlikely he will see any results from this. Last month, a federal appeals court rejected Muhammad's argument that prosecutors withheld critical evidence and that he never should have been allowed to act as his own attorney for a portion of his trial because he was mentally impaired.

Additionally, he and Lee Boyd Malvo were also suspected of shootings in several other states, including a killing in Louisiana and another in Alabama.

The rampage has also been called the Beltway Sniper killings, based on its proximity to I-495, an Interstate Highway that circles Washington, D.C. and its inner suburbs in Maryland and Virginia.