Farm animals were also killed and some decapitated.

The throats of two of the victims were cut, one was decapitated and the others, including a young boy, were shot to death.

On 9 July, an Afghan National Police patrol was ambushed in Helmand province, leaving at least 10 policemen dead, of whom six had been decapitated.

On 25 October, two Twa suspected of collaborating with FDN were abducted from their respective homes in Kiyenzi zone of Kanyosha commune, and decapitated a few metres away.

The body of another demobilized former CNDD FDD combatant taken from his home in Isale commune on the night of 29 October by men believed to be FNL was found decapitated.

As protests began last year, the grass roots nature of the Green Movement was initially thought to be advantageous, given that it could not be easily decapitated. Thirty years ago people were sheep and Khomeini was their shepherd, a prominent Iranian democratic activist told me.

On 29 October administrative authorities in Muhuta commune, Bujumbura rural, reported that the decapitated heads of two men were discovered by an FDN patrol one of the victims was identified as a communal tax collector and CNDD FDD member the other had not been identified.