Thursday, July 24, 2014

Two Finnish aid workers killed in western Afghanistan --- (Reuters) - Two Finnish aid workers with an international Christian organization were shot dead on Thursday in Afghanistan's western city of Herat, officials said. -- The attack comes at a sensitive time as Afghanistan audits votes from a disputed presidential election to pick a successor to the incumbent, Hamid Karzai. -- Foreign troops have been in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban since 2001 but are withdrawing from the country this year, leaving Afghan forces to maintain security. -- "The two women who were gunned down were working in the health sector for a foreign aid organization in Herat," provincial governor Fazlullah Wahidi told Reuters. -- Two gunmen on a motorbike approached the aid workers' taxi and opened fire, he said. --- Finland's foreign ministry later said the women were Finnish, while the Afghan Interior Ministry said the two worked for International Assistance Mission, a Christian group that has worked in Afghanistan since 1966. -- "The barbaric fate of the women affects us all. The act is particularly shocking as the women were in Afghanistan to help local people," Finnish president Sauli Niinisto said in a statement. He said he had demanded that local officials do all they can to bring those guilty to justice. -- In a separate incident, explosives attached to a motorbike went off in the northern province of Takhar, killing six civilians and wounding 28 people, the interior ministry said. - More, http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/24/us-afghanistan-attacks-idUSKBN0FT13T20140724

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