A BRITISH woman was among four aid workers killed yesterday when their vehicle was ambushed in Afghanistan by Taleban insurgents.
Jacqueline Kirk, 40, who lived in Quebec but held British-Canadian nationality, was dragged out of the vehicle and along the ground before being executed along with three other International Rescue Committee (IRC) members.
They were travelling through Logar province from the eastern city of Gardez to Kabul.
The workers were set upon by five militant gunmen wielding assault rifles who fired at the IRC vehicle on the main road.
Ms Kirk, who had been an advisor on education programmes to the IRC since 2004, had been working in Afghanistan since May as a co-ordinator in the agency's programmes for children. Dr Kirk, a University of Ulster research fellow, was affiliated to the university's International Conflict Research centre, based at its Coleraine campus.
She died along with two other women workers – Nicole Dial, a Trinidadian-American and a Canadian whose identity has not been released – the charity said. The fourth casualty Mohammad Aimal, 25, was their Afghan driver.
The Scotsman understands the attack was a botched kidnap attempt by Taleban militants.
Abdurrahman Khan, the driver of a second IRC car, who was wounded in the attack, wept as he loaded two of the bodies on to the back of a lorry.
He said: "They were here helping Afghan people. They were not carrying weapons."
Mr Khan said the women's vehicle, a white 4x4, was riddled with bullets. It had markings on the side of the vehicle identifying as carrying IRC staff.
At Logar province's Pul-e-Alam hospital, Dr Mir Mabub Shah said all four bodies had multiple bullet wounds.
The IRC focuses on providing returning refugees with shelter, water and sanitation, and developing the healthcare system.
George Rupp, the president of the New York-based organisation, said: "We are stunned and profoundly saddened by this tragic loss.
"These extraordinary individuals were deeply committed to aiding the people of Afghanistan, especially the children, who have seen so much strife.
"Words are inadequate to express our sympathy for the families and loved ones of the victims and our devoted team of humanitarian aid workers in Afghanistan."
The IRC said the killings had forced it to suspend humanitarian aid duties in the country after serving there for more than 20 years. Three district offices for the charity have been attacked and destroyed in Afghanistan since March.
Kai Eide, the senior UN official in Kabul, condemned what he branded a "cowardly attack" on the IRC vehicle.
He said: "The IRC provides life- saving humanitarian assistance to those most affected by the conflict and it is reprehensible that such selfless individuals, working for the most vulnerable communities, should be deliberately targeted."
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, said: "It is not in our culture to kill women, Afghans never kill women. This unforgivable incident was carried out by the enemies of Afghanistan, by non-Afghans."
>BULLETS
Mr Howarth, 38, who works in Baku as regional manager of a UK-based marine contractors' firm, was in Aberdeen when he heard of the escalating conflict between Russia and Georgia, and flew to Baku on Sunday.
His wife Tamara and children Jake, seven, and Emma, 18 months, were holidaying with Mrs Howarth's parents near the Georgian village of Khashuri.
2008 on course to be the deadliest year since invasion began THESE latest deaths are the bloodiest single attack on non-governmental organisation (NGO) workers in Afghanistan.
Rising violence has already forced many aid agencies to restrict humanitarian work at a time when drought and high prices are putting more Afghans under pressure.
This month it was announced that 19 Afghan NGO staff have died this year. Two Afghans working for International Rescue Committee (IRC) were also killed in an ambush, again in Logar province, in July last year.
Yesterday's attack brings to at least 23 the total number of aid workers killed in militant attacks in 2008, compared with 15 killed in all of 2007, according to a recent report from ANSO, a security group that works for aid organisations in the country. ANSO warned that 2008 was on track to be the deadliest year for aid workers since the 2001 invasion that ousted the Taleban.
Aleem Siddique, UN spokesman in Afghanistan, said: "I condemn this cowardly attack in the strongest terms and urge the authorities to leave no stone unturned in the search for the perpetrators."
The full article contains 795 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
