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Three foreign nationals abducted and killed in Kabul: police
KABUL, Aug 2, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Afghan police in Kabul Thursday recovered
the bodies of three foreign nationals who were abducted and killed, in the
latest incident targeting foreigners in the war-torn capital.
“At this stage we think it is a terrorist incident,” a police spokesman
Hashmat Stanikzai told AFP.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings.
Kabul is plagued by criminal gangs who stage abductions, often targeting
foreigners and wealthy locals, and sometimes hand them over to insurgent
groups.
Kidnapping of Afghans and foreigners for ransom is also common across
Afghanistan where swathes of the country are infested with militant groups or
criminal gangs.
Afghan civilians have borne the brunt of the grinding conflict that began
after the 2001 US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime.
Militant attacks and suicide bombs were the leading causes of civilian
deaths in the first half of 2018, a recent UN report showed.
While the Taliban is Afghanistan’s largest militant group and holds or
contests more territory than any other insurgent outfit, the Islamic State
has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to carry out devastating attacks in
urban areas.
The abductions come a day after more than 150 Islamic State fighters
surrendered in northern Afghanistan move that Afghan security forces and the
Taliban hailed as the end of the extremist group in the north of the country.
BSS/AFP/RY/1605 hrs