Taliban's Brutality Turns off Many Afghans

Most people don't support the death penalty for partying.

The Taliban's beheading of 17 people at a celebration of music and dancing is the latest in a litany of crimes that may turn Afghans away from the Islamic group, some locals say.

The killers attacked a large party Sunday in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, said government official Neyamatullah Khan. Khan said the victims were beheaded for flouting the Taliban's view of proper Muslim behavior.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the killings as an "unforgivable crime," and recent interviews with Afghans in the south show that many have grown increasingly intolerant of the Taliban.