Insurgents pulled over a minivan with eight young labourers on their way to work at a US base in eastern Afghanistan on Thursday, forced them out and then shot them dead, officials said.The killings near Forward Operating Base Shank, a US base in Logar province, were the latest in a militant campaign of intimidation against Afghans working for the government or the international coalition. The attack took place just after dawn near Puli Alam, the provincial capital.
"They were eight ordinary labourers going to work at that base. They were day labourers," said Logar deputy police chief Raeis Khan Abdul Rahimzai. "This is very hard to believe. It is an inhuman and un-Muslim act against innocent people."
| Inhuman it may well be. But it is very, very Muslim. |
Provincial spokesman Din Mohammad Darwesh said there were four gunmen on motorcycles who pulled over the minivan.
"They just took them out of the car and shot them. They are all in their late teens and early 20s," Darwish said.
Logar, located just south of Kabul, has seen a sharp increase in insurgent activity this year, The Afghan army last week carried out a large operation against insurgents operating in the province.