Taliban Kill 10 on Medical Aid Mission in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — At least 10 medical personnel, including six Americans, were murdered in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, officials confirmed Saturday. A Taliban spokesman, reached by cellphone, claimed responsibility for the killings.

The bodies from the group, which had been on an expedition to bring eye care and other medical services to remote areas, were found shot to death in a mountainous area of Badakhshan Province, according to the provincial police chief, Aka Noor Kentoz.

The International Assistance Mission, a group that last month had a fund-raiser in Kabul for a medical expedition to Nuristan Province, said six of the dead were Americans, one was German and one was British. Dirk Frans, the executive director of the I.A.M., said the team was headed by Tom Little, an American opthamologist with four decades experience in Afghanistan and a fluent Dari speaker. Mr. Frans said the team numbered 12, including four Afghans, two of whom were killed. (READ FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING LINK BELOW)

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/asia/08afghan.html