Afghan militants kill 35 during attack on NATO road project
Source: Agencies |
May 20, 2011, Friday
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INSURGENTS firing heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles killed 35 workers and guards in an attack on a NATO-funded road construction site in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan, authorities said yesterday.
More than 100 fighters carried out the assault in Wazei Zadran, in a mountainous region of Paktia Province near neighboring Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, said Galaxy Sky construction company owner Noorullah Bidar.
He described the assailants as Taliban fighters, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack late on Wednesday.
The region is thought to be controlled largely by the Haqqani network, a fiercely independent branch of the Afghan Taliban and a major enemy of US and NATO forces. The al-Qaida-affiliated network, led by ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, is based in neighboring Pakistan's tribal belt.
"This was a brutal attack," Bidar said. About 85 people were at the construction site at the time of the attack, including some 65 guards recruited from surrounding villages, Bidar said. He said the firefight lasted about two hours and the insurgents shot down at the camp from a nearby hill. The fighting also destroyed a number of construction vehicles.
Rohullah Samon, a spokesman for Governor Juma Khan Hamard, said 35 workers were killed and 20 were wounded. He said eight insurgents also died in the attack, which ended around midnight when the fighters retreated after stealing some trucks.
"It is a very remote area and there is no police presence there and we are investigating," said provincial police chief General Abdul Ghafar Safi.
Galaxy Sky had a contract to build a 27-kilometer stretch of road through the mountainous area that was being funded by a NATO provincial reconstruction team, said Abdullah Durani, head of the public works department of Paktia Province.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack. "The terrorists once again make clear their hostility against the development and progress of Afghanistan," he said in a statement yesterday.
The new top US commander in eastern Afghanistan, Major General Daniel B. Allyn, said yesterday that securing the nation's border with Pakistan remains a priority.
"We will work in close cooperation with our Pakistan military partners across the borders," Allyn told reporters after formally assuming command. "They continue to conduct complementary operations and we remain in daily dialogue ... to ensure that we can provide stability and security ... against the common enemies of both Pakistan and Afghanistan."
Insurgents declared the start of a spring offensive against NATO and the Afghan government last month. NATO has been expecting the Taliban to stage a series of spectacular and complex attacks, and the group has already carried out a number of them recently.
US officials say that Pakistan has not done enough to go after insurgent safe havens in the restive area, especially in North Waziristan where the Haqqanis are thought to be based. The issue is a sore point between the two countries and the area has been the target of repeated US drone strikes.
More than 100 fighters carried out the assault in Wazei Zadran, in a mountainous region of Paktia Province near neighboring Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, said Galaxy Sky construction company owner Noorullah Bidar.
He described the assailants as Taliban fighters, though there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack late on Wednesday.
The region is thought to be controlled largely by the Haqqani network, a fiercely independent branch of the Afghan Taliban and a major enemy of US and NATO forces. The al-Qaida-affiliated network, led by ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, is based in neighboring Pakistan's tribal belt.
"This was a brutal attack," Bidar said. About 85 people were at the construction site at the time of the attack, including some 65 guards recruited from surrounding villages, Bidar said. He said the firefight lasted about two hours and the insurgents shot down at the camp from a nearby hill. The fighting also destroyed a number of construction vehicles.
Rohullah Samon, a spokesman for Governor Juma Khan Hamard, said 35 workers were killed and 20 were wounded. He said eight insurgents also died in the attack, which ended around midnight when the fighters retreated after stealing some trucks.
"It is a very remote area and there is no police presence there and we are investigating," said provincial police chief General Abdul Ghafar Safi.
Galaxy Sky had a contract to build a 27-kilometer stretch of road through the mountainous area that was being funded by a NATO provincial reconstruction team, said Abdullah Durani, head of the public works department of Paktia Province.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack. "The terrorists once again make clear their hostility against the development and progress of Afghanistan," he said in a statement yesterday.
The new top US commander in eastern Afghanistan, Major General Daniel B. Allyn, said yesterday that securing the nation's border with Pakistan remains a priority.
"We will work in close cooperation with our Pakistan military partners across the borders," Allyn told reporters after formally assuming command. "They continue to conduct complementary operations and we remain in daily dialogue ... to ensure that we can provide stability and security ... against the common enemies of both Pakistan and Afghanistan."
Insurgents declared the start of a spring offensive against NATO and the Afghan government last month. NATO has been expecting the Taliban to stage a series of spectacular and complex attacks, and the group has already carried out a number of them recently.
US officials say that Pakistan has not done enough to go after insurgent safe havens in the restive area, especially in North Waziristan where the Haqqanis are thought to be based. The issue is a sore point between the two countries and the area has been the target of repeated US drone strikes.
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