Stopped by Taliban fighters while on their way to provide medical aid to impoverished Afghan villagers, the team of 10 medical staff, including doctors, nurses, and medical technicians, were robbed and killed in the northern Afghan province of Badakhshan.
“We are heartbroken by the loss of these heroic, generous people. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless act,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement on Sunday.
The bodies of six Americans, two Afghan interpreters, one German, and a British man were discovered on Friday by Afghan police. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the killings.
“They were unarmed. They were not being paid for their services. They had traveled to this distant part of the world because they wanted to help people in need,” said Clinton.
The aid workers had spent several days treating cataracts and other eye conditions in Nuristan province, before traveling to Badakshan province where they intended to run a dental clinic, and offer maternal and infant health care.
Blog posts on the Bridge Afghanistan website run by aid team worker Dr. Karen Woo described their trip as a three-week journey on foot and packhorses in an area no vehicles could access due to mountainous terrain.
Dr. Woo said they would walk 120 miles and be dealing with a population of around 50,000 people in the region.
International Assistance Mission or IAM is an international Christian nongovernmental organization that has been operating in Afghanistan since 1966.
“This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people,” the IAM said in a statement. “We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year.”
The Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the murder saying that they had killed the foreign aid workers because they were “spying for the Americans,” and “preaching Christianity,” the Associated Press quoted Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid as saying.
Clinton has denied the Taliban claims saying the she condemns “the Taliban’s transparent attempt to justify the unjustifiable by making false accusations about their activities in Afghanistan.”
Additional reporting by Jasper Fakkert
“We are heartbroken by the loss of these heroic, generous people. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this senseless act,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement on Sunday.
The bodies of six Americans, two Afghan interpreters, one German, and a British man were discovered on Friday by Afghan police. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the killings.
“They were unarmed. They were not being paid for their services. They had traveled to this distant part of the world because they wanted to help people in need,” said Clinton.
The aid workers had spent several days treating cataracts and other eye conditions in Nuristan province, before traveling to Badakshan province where they intended to run a dental clinic, and offer maternal and infant health care.
Blog posts on the Bridge Afghanistan website run by aid team worker Dr. Karen Woo described their trip as a three-week journey on foot and packhorses in an area no vehicles could access due to mountainous terrain.
Dr. Woo said they would walk 120 miles and be dealing with a population of around 50,000 people in the region.
International Assistance Mission or IAM is an international Christian nongovernmental organization that has been operating in Afghanistan since 1966.
“This tragedy negatively impacts our ability to continue serving the Afghan people,” the IAM said in a statement. “We hope it will not stop our work that benefits over a quarter of a million Afghans each year.”
The Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the murder saying that they had killed the foreign aid workers because they were “spying for the Americans,” and “preaching Christianity,” the Associated Press quoted Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid as saying.
Clinton has denied the Taliban claims saying the she condemns “the Taliban’s transparent attempt to justify the unjustifiable by making false accusations about their activities in Afghanistan.”
Additional reporting by Jasper Fakkert
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