Five mine clearance workers killed in southern Afghanistan
Unidentified gunmen have killed at least five mine disposal technicians and kidnapped one of the workers in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province, officials say.
Daoud Ahmadi, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said the demining team was working in the province’s Maiwand district when attacked early on Monday.
“The victims had told the district governor and district police that they had no problem with Taliban so they would not need any protection,” media outlets quoted Ahmadi as saying.
Sources said that the deminers were clearing an area for the multi-billion-dollar TAPI pipeline project. TAPI is named after the countries participating in the project - Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.
The construction work will still have to pass through lawless areas of southern Afghanistan where armed groups with shifting loyalties operate and security is highly uncertain.
The latest attack comes as the Taliban militant group in Afghanistan has announced the start of its so-called spring offensive, saying it will look out for US forces on a “kill or capture” mission.
The US -- under Republican George W. Bush’s presidency -- and its allies invaded Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban regime from power, but after 17 years insecurity still persists in the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops.
After becoming president in 2008, Barack Obama, a Democrat, vowed to end the Afghan war, but he failed to keep his promise.
US President Donald Trump, who has spoken against the Afghan war, has dubbed the 2001 invasion and the following occupation of Afghanistan as "Obama's war."
Trump has ruled out any negotiations with the Taliban, and the group’s announcement to launch the offensive focused on US forces is likely to further complicate the Afghan war — the longest in US history.
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