Taliban Militants Kill Three Women Aid Workers, Girls School Attacked

Taliban militants killed three women working for Action Aid, a German-funded non-governmental organization, in the Jowzjan province today. Reuters reports that the three women were traveling a car when they were attacked by militants on motorcycles. Their driver also died in the attack.

This attack comes following one of the most violent days since the fall of the Taliban, when a United States military convoy traveling in the capital city of Kabul caused a 12-car traffic accident that killed five Afghan civilians and wounded many others. The accident sparked a riot in Kabul, and witnesses have reported that US troops fired on the crowd, though the US military claims to have only fired warning shots in the air to break up the riot, according to the New York Times. At least 14 people are now dead, and scores were treated at the Khair Khana Hospital with gunshot wounds, the Times reports.

Pent-up grievances in the Afghan population are mounting. Conditions in Kabul are dire. Over a million people are homeless. The city, which had a population of 500,000, has ballooned with refugees returning to around 4 million, with many jobless and homeless.

In addition, another school for girls was arsoned in the past two weeks, bringing the total of schools attacked to more than 300.

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Media Resources: Reuters 5/30/06; New York Times 5/30/06

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