Official: Aid worker slayings 'a deplorable and cowardly act'; all bodies recovered
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The war in Afghanistan began on Oct. 7, 2001, as the U.S. military launched an operation in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. The war continues today.
Sunday, August 8, 2010; 11:57 AM
KABUL --
The bodies of 10 medical workers from a Christian aid group who were killed this week by insurgents in the mountains of northern Afghanistan were flown to Kabul on Sunday, and the U.S. Embassy confirmed that six Americans were among the dead.
The British government said that Karen Woo, a British surgeon, had been killed in the attack, the first official confirmation that the massacred aid workers were from the International Assistance Mission, a Christian group which had sent a 12-person team to provide eye care in the remote Nurestan province.
The organization's Kabul office had lost contact with the medical team Wednesday, and their bodies were found in southern Badakhshan province two days later.
"This is a deplorable and cowardly act which is against the interests of the people of Afghanistan who depended on the services she was bravely helping to provide," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this tragic time."
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the families of the six slain Americans had been notified, but "out of respect for them, we will not be releasing the names at this time."
One American known to be killed was Tom Little, an optometrist from New York and the team's leader, who had worked in Afghanistan for decades. Thomas Grams, 51, a Colorado dentist who worked giving free dental care to children in Nepal and Afghanistan, was also among the dead, the Associated Press reported.
Afghan helicopters could not retrieve the bodies Saturday because of poor weather, according to Dirk Frans, director of the IAM, but a second attempt Sunday succeeded. By mid-day, the bodies had arrived at a military compound in downtown Kabul. Along with them came the lone survivor of the attack, an Afghan driver for the team named Safiullah, who was taken to the Interior Ministry for questioning.
Investigators, as well as IAM officials, are eager to speak with Safiullah to learn more about the circumstances of the attack and how he survived.
The medical team had driven from Kabul in three Land Rovers, then left the vehicles to hike for days over a towering mountain pass and into the Parun Valley in Nurestan. They'd crossed back over the pass and had either reached their vehicles or had almost done so when they were set upon by about 10 gunmen. The gunmen lined them up and shot them, according to police.
According to an Afghan reporter who interviewed Safiullah by satellite phone Saturday and provided his notes to The Washington Post, Safiullah said that the medical team was accompanied by a small group of local security guards and a Nurestani guide while on their hike. At the border with Badakhshan, Safiullah said, the local guards and the guide said they could go no further, which worried him.
Not far from the border, the 10 gunmen appeared. Their bearded faces were covered, they carried Kalashnikov rifles and they said very little, communicating with hand gestures, Safiullah told the reporter. They lined up the frightened team and began to execute them as members of the group screamed and cried for mercy, he said.
When it was his turn, Safiullah said he fell to his knees, shouted "God is great" and recited a verse from the Koran--"there is no God but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God"--and pleaded to be spared.
The bodies of 10 medical workers from a Christian aid group who were killed this week by insurgents in the mountains of northern Afghanistan were flown to Kabul on Sunday, and the U.S. Embassy confirmed that six Americans were among the dead.
The British government said that Karen Woo, a British surgeon, had been killed in the attack, the first official confirmation that the massacred aid workers were from the International Assistance Mission, a Christian group which had sent a 12-person team to provide eye care in the remote Nurestan province.
The organization's Kabul office had lost contact with the medical team Wednesday, and their bodies were found in southern Badakhshan province two days later.
"This is a deplorable and cowardly act which is against the interests of the people of Afghanistan who depended on the services she was bravely helping to provide," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this tragic time."
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the families of the six slain Americans had been notified, but "out of respect for them, we will not be releasing the names at this time."
One American known to be killed was Tom Little, an optometrist from New York and the team's leader, who had worked in Afghanistan for decades. Thomas Grams, 51, a Colorado dentist who worked giving free dental care to children in Nepal and Afghanistan, was also among the dead, the Associated Press reported.
Afghan helicopters could not retrieve the bodies Saturday because of poor weather, according to Dirk Frans, director of the IAM, but a second attempt Sunday succeeded. By mid-day, the bodies had arrived at a military compound in downtown Kabul. Along with them came the lone survivor of the attack, an Afghan driver for the team named Safiullah, who was taken to the Interior Ministry for questioning.
Investigators, as well as IAM officials, are eager to speak with Safiullah to learn more about the circumstances of the attack and how he survived.
The medical team had driven from Kabul in three Land Rovers, then left the vehicles to hike for days over a towering mountain pass and into the Parun Valley in Nurestan. They'd crossed back over the pass and had either reached their vehicles or had almost done so when they were set upon by about 10 gunmen. The gunmen lined them up and shot them, according to police.
According to an Afghan reporter who interviewed Safiullah by satellite phone Saturday and provided his notes to The Washington Post, Safiullah said that the medical team was accompanied by a small group of local security guards and a Nurestani guide while on their hike. At the border with Badakhshan, Safiullah said, the local guards and the guide said they could go no further, which worried him.
Not far from the border, the 10 gunmen appeared. Their bearded faces were covered, they carried Kalashnikov rifles and they said very little, communicating with hand gestures, Safiullah told the reporter. They lined up the frightened team and began to execute them as members of the group screamed and cried for mercy, he said.
When it was his turn, Safiullah said he fell to his knees, shouted "God is great" and recited a verse from the Koran--"there is no God but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God"--and pleaded to be spared.
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