Afghanistan: Ten dead in an attack on a demining party

Ten people were killed in an attack on a mine clearance team from the British-American organization Halo Trust.

16 more were injured, the organization confirmed on Wednesday in a statement shared on Twitter.

Accordingly, an "unknown, armed group" had entered a camp with around 110 deminers in the province of Baghlan in the north of the country on Tuesday evening (local time) and opened fire.

Shortly before, the miners had been working on a nearby minefield.

So far, no one has confessed to the attack.

The Afghan Interior Ministry accused the militant Islamist Taliban.

The Islamists said on Twitter that they had nothing to do with the incident.

The Halo Trust statement said, "We strongly condemn the attack on our employees." They did humanitarian work to save lives.

The organization is now concentrating on looking after the injured and supporting the families affected.

In the past, Halo Trust employees in Afghanistan had been abducted for short periods several times by unknown persons.

According to the charity's website, Halo Trust has 2,600 employees in Afghanistan.

The demining organization program in the country is run entirely by Afghans, it said.

Mines and other explosive devices have been destroyed there since 1988.

In the past, aid organizations in Afghanistan have been repeatedly attacked.

According to the non-governmental organization Inso, 180 incidents involving NGOs were registered in Afghanistan in 2020.

14 employees were killed, 27 injured and 42 kidnapped.

Another deportation flight from Germany landed

Since the official start of the withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan on May 1, the security situation in the country has deteriorated again. The militant Islamist Taliban have since started several offensives and conquered at least eleven districts. Hundreds of security guards were killed or injured. Civilians are also victims of the conflict every day. In addition to the Taliban, the terrorist militia “Islamic State” is also active.

Meanwhile, another deportation flight from Germany has arrived in Afghanistan.

The machine landed at Kabul Airport in the morning (local time), said officials from the German Press Agency.

42 deported men were on board.

It was the 39th collective deportation since the first such flight in December 2016. This means that the federal and state governments have so far returned 1,077 men to Afghanistan.

Most recently, there has been a monthly deportation flight from Germany to Afghanistan since December.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the flight planned for May was postponed because the Afghan authorities saw the need for increased security measures around May 1st.

On May 1st, the US and other NATO countries officially began withdrawing their troops from Afghanistan.

Deportations to the crisis country are controversial.

Despite the start of peace talks in September, the conflict with the militant Islamist Taliban continues.

The security situation has deteriorated since the international troops began to withdraw.

The militant Islamist Taliban have since launched several offensives and conquered at least eleven districts in the country.

Hundreds of security guards were killed or injured.

Civilians are also victims of the conflict every day.

In addition to the Taliban, the Islamic State terrorist militia is also active in the country.

Recently, the number of new corona infections in the country has also increased significantly./vee/DP/eas