Mauritania: Al Qaeda decapitates 12 soldiers

Looks like the al Qaeda boys are up to their old beheading tricks. Refresh my memory, which of the 5 pillars of Islam covers beheadings, again?

Twelve Mauritanian soldiers who were abducted in an attack on their patrol claimed by al Qaeda have been found killed with their heads cut off, a senior official of the ruling military junta said on Saturday. The soldiers had been missing since Monday, when gunmen ambushed their patrol in the northern Zouerate iron ore mining region of the West Saharan Islamic state. Al Qaeda's North Africa wing had claimed responsibility for the attack and said it had captured the soldiers.

The new Mauritania government (a military junta overthrew the US approved civilian elected government a month ago) is appealing to the international community for help fighting this "very grave threat to the stability of the region."

(The US did cut off some non-humanitarian aid following the coup.)