Gunmen ambushed a convoy carrying election workers into a remote Taliban stronghold, killing two of them, officials said Saturday, bringing to a dozen the number of people slain so far while preparing for the landmark presidential vote. At least 30 militants shot at the jeeps from the joint Afghan-U.N. electoral body on Friday as they passed through Char Cheno, a district of central Uruzgan province, Gov. Jan Mohammed Khan told The Associated Press. Khan said two members of the voter registration team were killed and all four vehicles were destroyed by fire after being strafed with assault-rifle and machine-gun fire. The United Nations identified the victims as Mohammed Hashim, a training officer, and driver Mohammed Hussein. A third worker was missing, it said. The world body "condemns in the strongest terms the murderous attack," spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said.
Khan said guards in the convoy returned fire before the assailants ran away retreated. One Taliban fighter was captured, he said. Uruzgan and neighboring Zabul have been the scene of some of the worst fighting in recent months, and attacks have increased as the nation gears up for its first post-Taliban election on Oct. 9. |