Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 10 people and injured 15 others in northern Afghanistan, according to Site Intelligence, which monitors extremist groups online.
In its statement, the IK claims that its members infiltrated the camp of the British organization HALO Trust, in the province of Baglan, gathered the pyrotechnicians in two rooms and opened fire on them.
The Afghan Interior Ministry said the attack took place at around 22:00 on Tuesday night, about 260 kilometers north of Kabul.
One of the survivors, who was wounded by bullets and taken to a nearby hospital, told the French Agency that the gunmen had invaded during the night. Five or six men, he said, climbed the outer wall, stopped the generators and gathered the approximately 140 HALO Trust staff – all Afghans – who were resting at the time. They wore masks. One asked if there were Khazars among us (a Shiite minority who are often targeted by extremist Islamists) but no one answered. “Then he asked who the leader was,” he said.
The man named was executed immediately.
“Then one of the perpetrators ordered: kill them all. “And they opened fire on us, we all tried to leave but some were killed, others were injured,” he continued.
The “operation” lasted two hours, until midnight.
HALO Trust confirmed that ten of its employees were killed and 16 were injured. “We are now focusing on helping the injured and supporting the families,” said the group, which has been tasked with clearing minefields in Afghanistan.
The Taliban ousted the perpetrators
Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh has denied responsibility for the attack on the Taliban, saying in a Twitter post that the insurgents “wanted to steal money and unexploded ordnance”. But James Cowan, the NGO’s director, told BBC radio that the Taliban had helped end the attack. “A group of local Taliban came to our aid and drove out the perpetrators,” he said. “It is a horrific incident, the worst in the history of the HALO Trust,” he said, adding that the gunmen “went from bed to bed, cold-bloodedly killing my staff.”
Cowen said the Taliban were not responsible.
A spokesman for the rebels, Zabihullah Mujahideen, also denied that the Taliban were involved in the attack. “We condemn the attacks on people who cannot defend themselves and which are tantamount to barbarism. “We maintain normal relations with non-governmental organizations, our mujahideen would never engage in such violent acts,” he said.
The HALO Trust was set up in 1988 to remove landmines left on Afghan soil after the Soviet invasion of the country. The organization employs more than 2,600 Afghans and has demined about 80% of the minefields allotted to it in the country.
