AFGHANISTAN-AID/ATTACK Militants kill nine Afghan aid workers

Record ID: 149956

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN-AID/ATTACK Militants kill nine Afghan aid workers
  • Date: 2nd June 2015
  • Summary: BULLET HOLES IN SIDE OF BODY
  • Embargoed: 17th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Afghanistan
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8T92M6DADD5JWALDZZV7DYUE0
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL
    Unidentified militants shot and killed nine Afghan employees of a Czech-backed aid group, People in Need, in an attack early on Tuesday (June 2) in Afghanistan's northern Balkh province, government officials said.
    Aid workers have faced increasing attacks in Afghanistan as foreign troops have withdrawn and security has deteriorated, making the country one of the most dangerous for aid groups.
    Government officials blamed the Taliban for Tuesday's attack, about 50 miles (80 km.) south of the provincial capital.
    Dead bodies of the workers were taken to Mazar-i-Sharif regional hospital.
    "Militants attacked the regional office of aid workers known as People In Need (PIN), which belongs to the Czech Republic, and killed nine workers, including a woman, while they were sleeping," said Mir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the governor of Balkh.
    In a statement, People in Need said its staff had worked in the area since 2002, and it was suspending all operations in Afghanistan.
    The office of the provincial governor also blamed the Taliban and said it was investigating the incident.
    The Taliban said it was looking into the details of the attack and could not immediately comment.
    The militant Islamist group has been fighting to topple the internationally-backed government after being ousted from power by a U.S.-led invasion in 2001.
    Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy was attacked by militants and rescued by police, the interior ministry said in a statement.
    A car and weapons including a rocket launcher and two AK-47 assault rifles had also been seized, it added.
    A WFP spokeswoman could not immediately be reached for comment.
    As many as 57 aid workers were killed last year, the United Nations says. Most have been Afghan staff members, who work in the field and face a greater risk of kidnapping and killing.
    In April, 19 Afghan de-miners were freed two days after being abducted by militants while doing a survey in the eastern region.
    They were luckier than five aid workers with Save the Children, who were abducted in March, and found dead more than a month later in central Uruzgan province.
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