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(Reuters)
7 January 2004
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Unidentified gunmen killed 12 ethnic minority
Hazaras in southern Afghanistan in the latest spate of violence in
the volatile region, an official said on Wednesday.
The Hazaras were travelling in a vehicle when they came under attack
in Baghran district of Helmand province on Tuesday night, said Haji
Mohammad Wali, spokesman for the province's governor.
All together there were 13 Hazara people in the car when the attack
happened. Twelve people died on the spot and only one of them
survived the incident, Wali told Reuters.
The victims were residents of neighbouring Uruzgan province, where
tension has reportedly erupted recently between some Hazaras and
ethnic Pashtuns, the largest clan of Afghanistan.
The incident took place on the same day that a bomb went off in
Kandahar, the main city in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 16
people and injuring more than 50 others.
Remnants of the Taleban, toppled more than two years ago by US-led
forces, have claimed responsibility for the blast in Kandahar, the
militiaÂ's former stronghold.
More than 450 people including militants, civilians, aid workers,
Afghan troops and more than a dozen US-led soldiers have been killed
since August, mainly in the southern and eastern areas.
The violence is the worst since the fall of the Taleban.
It comes despite the presence of 12,000 US-led troops in Afghanistan
hunting fugitives from the Taleban, al Qaeda and followers of
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of an Islamic party who has declared a
holy war against foreign forces in Afghanistan.
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