Ten Afghan deminers killed in attack; Taliban deny

Gulf Today Report

Masked gunmen killed 10 people working for the HALO Trust mine-clearing organisation in northern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said on Wednesday, blaming the Taliban for the latest attack to rock the violence-wracked country.

"The Taliban entered a compound of a mine-clearing agency... and started shooting everyone," interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told reporters.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid denied the insurgents were involved in the attack.

READ MORE

Muslim family of four killed in premeditated Canada truck attack

Macron slapped in face during walkabout

At least 14 more were injured when a camp of deminers was attacked on Tuesday night in the province's Baghlan-e Markazi district, the statement added.

The raid happened around 10pm (1730 GMT) on Tuesday when dozens of deminers were relaxing in the HALO compound after a day spent removing ordnance from nearby minefields, around 260 kilometres (160 miles) north of the capital, Kabul.

The UK-based HALO Trust told AFP "an unknown armed group" killed 10 staff and wounded 16 others.

Injured workers are treated at a hospital in northern Baghlan province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. AP

"We condemn attacks on the defenseless & view it as brutality," he said on Twitter. "We have normal relations with NGOs, our Mujahidin will never carry out such brutal acts."

"Around 110 men, from local communities in northern Afghanistan, were in the camp," HALO said.

Local media reported that the attacked demining camp was run by the international mine clearance organization Halo Trust.

According to the website of the non-governmental organisation, Halo Trust has 2,600 employees in Afghanistan. The demining programme in the country is completely Afghan-led.

Baghlan province governor's spokesman Jawed Basharat told AFP the attackers wore masks.

Baghlan province has seen fierce fighting in recent months, with near-daily battles between the Taliban and government forces in several districts.

Violence has surged across the country since May 1 when the US military began its final troop withdrawal amid a deadlock in peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Zalmay Khalilzad shake hands after signing an agreement at a ceremony between members of Afghanistan's Taliban and the US in Doha, Qatar February 29, 2020. File/Reuters

In several districts where fighting has been intense in recent months, the insurgents have planted roadside bombs and mines to target government forces, but the explosives often kill and wound civilians.

Afghanistan was already one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, a legacy of decades of conflict.

The HALO Trust was founded in 1988 specifically to tackle ordnance left following the near ten-year Soviet occupation, and became a favourite cause of Britain's Princess Diana.

The organisation's website says it has an Aghan workforce of more than 2,600 and has removed landmines from nearly 80 percent of the country's recorded minefields and battlefields.

On Wednesday, the Taliban claimed it had shot down an Afghan military helicopter in the province of Wardak near Kabul, but the defence ministry said the aircraft had crashed due to "technical reasons".

Three crew members were killed in the incident, the ministry said.

According to non-governmental organization Inso, 180 incidents involving NGOs in Afghanistan were registered in 2020. Fourteen employees were killed, 27 injured and 42 kidnapped.