Afghan Mine-Clearance Agency Head Says Staff May Have Been Killed in Error

Text of report by private Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency

Kabul, 24 March: The ATC [Afghanistan Technical Consultants] head has said the assailants [who killed some of his staff] might not have possibly recognized his workers as de-miners. According to reports, unknown armed men yesterday killed five workers of the Afghanistan Technical Consultants [ATC], a de-mining company, and wounded seven others in a an area bordering Balkh and Jowzjan Provinces.

Speaking to Afghan Islamic Press [AIP] this morning, ATC chairman Kefayatollah Eblagh, expressed deep regret over the incident and said: “A group of workers was coming back to their camp after finishing their job in Jowzjan Province near the border of Balkh Province, when shots were fired at them and they were forced to stop their vehicle. The armed men forced them to get out of the car and opened fire on them, killing five and wounding seven others.”

He added: “I think the armed men didn’t recognize them as de- miners and mistook them for other people because people respect the de-miners in all parts of Afghanistan.”

“Sometime back, 13 of our de-miners were abducted in Paktia Province and were released later,” added the ATC chairman.

According to Eblagh, it was a political killing, because the killers didn’t touch the equipment of the de-miners. “Or it is also possible that the killers didn’t take the equipment maybe due to fear,” said Eblagh.

When asked, Iblagh said the ATC currently has 2,000 workers in Afghanistan, and will continue its work.

The ATC is a very old de-mining organization in Afghanistan, which was working in the mine clearance sector in Afghanistan during war against the former Soviet Union.

Originally published by Afghan Islamic Press news agency, Peshawar, in Pashto 0655 24 Mar 08.

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