Former Afghan rulers, Taliban, denied Friday, June 11, involvement in the killing of 11 Chinese workers slain in their sleep in northeast Afghanistan, the bloodiest attack on foreigners since the U.S.-led military attack almost three years ago. The denial came as the bodies of the 11 reconstruction workers killed were transferred to Kabul ahead of repatriation to China and at least one man was arrested in relation to the savage attack, according to Agence France-Presse. Abdul Latif Hakimi, claiming to represent remnants of the ousted Islamic regime, said the horrific killings "should not have happened."
| "We really hosed that one..." |
"We deny the accusation of killing the Chinese workers in Kunduz province of Afghanistan," he told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location. Kunduz province, some 250 kilometers north of Kabul, has been – until the Thursday attack – considered one of the few safest areas in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai, in the United States to attend the G8 summit, blamed the killings on Afghanistan’s "enemies" while Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said the cold-blooded murders were carried out by "terrorist elements." Acting President Mohammed Qasim Fahim, the Defense Minister standing in for Karzai, said Thursday he considered "the network of Taliban, Al-Qaeda and their allies behind the incident." According to local Afghan police, one man has been arrested in relation to the attack, however, China’s official news agency Xinhua said two people had been detained. "Based on the information we received, we arrested one suspect called Mullah Tor," near the site of the killings, Kunduz provincial police chief Mutalib Bek told AFP. "He was on his way towards Kunduz," when he was picked up, he said, adding the investigation was continuing. |