 "Taliban suicide bombers")
The provincial council of Mirzaolang village in the Afghan province of Sar-e Pul convened several times to demand help from the central government before their village was overrun by Taliban-aligned militants. The help never came.
By the time hundreds of Taliban from the Afghan provinces of Ghor, Faryab, Badghis, and Jawzjan, were gathering under the command of Sher Mohammad Ghazanfar, a local warlord, it was already too late. After closing all the roads leading into the village, the militants began to kill and abduct residents. The governor's office says at least sixty residents were killed and as many
