Taliban kill 35 road workers: Afghan official
May 19th, 2011 - 8:44 pm ICT by IANS
Kabul, May 19 (IANS) Thirtyfive road construction workers were killed and 24 injured Thursday when Taliban insurgents raided a road construction company, Xinhua quoted provincial administration’s spokesman as saying.
Eight Taliban militants were also killed in the two-hour clash which took place between them and the security guards in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktia province, the spokesman added.
“An unknown number of insurgents attacked a road construction company in Waza Zadran district Thursday at around 02.00 a.m. local time, triggering a fierce fighting between the company’s security guards and assailants. As a result, 35 people were killed,” said Rohullah Samoon.
He said the company named Galaxy Sky is a local firm which is in charge of construction of a road connecting Waza Zadran to neighbouring Khost province.
Taliban militants have in the past threatened locals to avoid working for construction projects and stop providing help for Afghan and foreign troops.
This was the second attack against road construction firms in eastern Afghanistan.
On March 27, in a suicide car bombing attack for which Taliban claimed responsibility, 24 workers were killed in neighbouring Paktika province.
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Tags: assailants, car bombing, construction firms, construction projects, eastern afghanistan, fierce fighting, kabul, khost, local firm, militants, paktia province, provincial administration, road construction company, road construction workers, samoon, security guards, taliban, unknown number, waza, xinhua