Two suspects were detained in connection to the slaying of 11
Chinese workers in Afghanistan.
Interrogations were ongoing Friday, Afghan Army General
Mohammand Daud told China's ambassador to Afghanistan, Sun Yuxi.
The investigation was ongoing.
"We have taken two attackers into custody so far and we are
hopeful to arrest their three accomplices soon," General Mohammad
Daud said on Friday.
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As a result of a cold-blooded attack committed by a group of
armed men early Thursday morning on the sound sleeping Chinese
workers' compound in Jalowgir area 36 kilometers away from Kunduz
city, 11 workers were killed and four others were injured.
Remains of the 11 dead were transferred to Kabul by Afghan
military helicopters. They were kept temporarily at the Kabul Army
Hospital, said a source form the construction company.
The four injured will be transferred by a German C-130 aircraft
to a German medical facility in the capital for further
treatment.
The general termed the number of attackers as high as five,
saying all those involved in the heinous crime will be awarded
exemplary punishment.
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However, he declined to identify the name or group or political
affiliation of the suspects arrested in this connection.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned the bloody attack on
the Chinese workers.
"This attack is the work of the enemies of Afghanistan who want
to derail the process of national reconstruction in Afghanistan and
this will not be tolerated," President Karzai said in the press
release on Friday morning.
"On behalf of the people and government of Afghanistan, I would
like to present my deepest condolences and sympathy to the families
of the victims, the Chinese people and government," Karzai
said.
At the President's order, a special investigation has been
launched to bring those responsible to justice.
Afghanistan's interior and public security ministries will send
a delegation to visit the site of the attack and initiate a
thorough investigation into the incident.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the
terrorist attack and expressed his profound condolences to the
Chinese government and to the bereaved families Friday.
"This appalling attack follows a series of other incidents
directed against those working in support of the Bonn peace
process," said Annan, calling on the Afghan government, the
NATO-led International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan
(ISAF), and Coalition forces to take necessary measures to address
the security situation.
The attack, the worst against foreigners since the fall of the
Taliban regime in 2001, incurred the first major casualties on
Chinese in Afghanistan in the past two years.
Still, Sun said China will not surrender to terrorism in any
form. The attack will not affect rebuilding activities in the
region, Sun said.
The workers, employees of China Railway Shisiju Group
Corporation (CRSGC), were taking part in a road rebuilding
project.
A 14-member company work team is on the way to Kabul to handle
follow-up issues.
The work team will work with the Afghan side to take effective
measures to ensure the safety of Chinese people there.
Ten of the dead workers, aged between 31 and 56, and two of the
injured were all male natives of Guangfeng County in East China's
Jiangxi
Province. The others were from Zhucheng in East China's Shandong
Province.
The families of the 10 dead workers from Jiangxi Province are
all lived in remote rural areas. The provincial and local municipal
governments have offered 4,000 yuan (US$484) to each family.
Around 320 Chinese workers have been working at four sites in
Afghanistan, including Parwan's irrigation canal, Kubul-Jalalabad
highway, Baghlan-Kunduz road and Jamhoriat hospital in Kabul.
(China Daily June 12, 2004)