Afghan Policewoman, Pregnant Teacher Kidnapped, Hanged

Afghan police are investigating the kidnapping and brutal killings of a female police officer and a pregnant teacher in the southern province of Oruzgan. Provincial government spokesman Abdullah Hemmat told RFE/RL that policewoman Feroza, 27, and her sister-in-law, 22-year-old teacher Malalai, were apparently hanged first and then shot in the head. Hemmat said the women's bodies were found on December 18 on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Trinkot. Family members told the authorities the women had been missing since December 16. There have been no claims of responsibility for the killings.