Taliban kills 4 aid group workers

Published 10:58 pm Wednesday, August 13, 2008

PUL-E-ALAM, Afghanistan — Taliban fighters with assault rifles shredded a U.S. aid group’s sport utility vehicle with dozens of bullets Wednesday, killing three Western women and their Afghan driver amid an escalating militant onslaught against humanitarian workers in Afghanistan.

The group whose workers were slain, the New York-based International Rescue Committee, announced it was suspending its Afghan humanitarian programs indefinitely.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killings, saying its fighters attacked two vehicles of “the foreign invader forces.”

“These extraordinary individuals were deeply committed to aiding the people of Afghanistan, especially the children who have seen so much strife,” said George Rupp, president of the International Rescue Committee.