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Mine clearance workers shot dead in Afghanistan

09 June 2021 22:36 (UTC +04:00)

At least 10 mine clearers working for Halo Trust in Afghanistan's northern province of Baghlan have been shot dead, and more than a dozen wounded, APA reports citing BBC.

Afghan officials blamed the Taliban, saying militants "started shooting everyone" in the compound.

But Halo Trust CEO James Cowan told the BBC that "the local Taliban... came to our aid and scared the assailants off". The Taliban also denied the attack.

Violence has surged since the US began to withdraw its last troops on 1 May.

The departure of international troops comes amid deadlock in peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Several districts in Baghlan province have seen fierce fighting between the Taliban and government forces.

The workers were killed when masked gunmen burst into their compound at 21:50 (17:20 GMT) on Tuesday, after they had spent a day removing mines from a nearby field.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told reporters that "the Taliban entered a compound of a mine-clearing agency... and started shooting everyone".

But the Taliban issued a swift denial.

"We condemn attacks on the defenceless and view it as brutality," the militant group's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted. "We have normal relations with NGOs [non-governmental organisations]. Our Mujahideen will never carry out such brutal attacks."