Asia

Home page

Asia

Taliban kill seven Afghan civilians

04 July 2010 02:00 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Afghan officials say the Taliban militants have killed at least seven civilians in an attack in the troubled southeastern parts of the war-torn country, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website.

Afghan provincial authorities said on Saturday that dozens more were reportedly abducted in Khost Province near the Pakistani border.

Officials have yet to release the details of the incident.

Targeted killings have surged in Afghanistan this year. The Taliban have regularly executed those accused of colluding with the government or US-led forces.

Thousands of the civilians were killed in Afghanistan under the Taliban rule between 1996 and 2001.

The latest incident comes just a day after three foreign nationals and two Afghans were killed in a Taliban attack on an American companyâ€™s building in the northern city of Konduz.

Civilians have been the main victims of violence in Afghanistan, particularly in the countryâ€™s troubled southern and eastern provinces.

According to official figures, more than 2,500 civilians were killed in NATO operations last year, undermining support for the presence of US-led forces in the country.

The invasion of Afghanistan was launched with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the country. Nine years on, however, Afghanistan remains unstable and civilians continue to pay the price.