Briton, S African shot dead by Afghan guard: police
Latest tragedy: Afghan policemen and officials standing outside the offices of courier company DHL in Kabul on Saturday, following a shootout in the Afghan capital. Two foreign nationals and an Afghan were killed in a shoot-out in central Kabul.Picture: AFP
Monday, October 27, 2008
A BRITON and a South African shot dead in Kabul were killed by one of their own guards who then committed suicide, interior ministry officials said yesterday.
The Westerners - the head and deputy head of the Afghanistan branch of international shipping company DHL - were killed early Saturday as their vehicle pulled up outside their office in the city centre.
"One of the security guards that was standing in front of the company opened fire on the chief and deputy of DHL," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.
"After killing those people, he killed himself with one bullet under his chin."
Bashary said police were looking into the background of the guard, employed by an Afghan branch of a British-based security company, to find out what had led him to kill the two Westerners.
"No one knows if this person was recruited (to carry out the killing) or there was infiltration of the enemy," Bashary said, referring to Taliban extremists behind a wave of violence in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have rejected involvement in the murder, which came a week after a British-South African aid worker was shot dead - also as she was about to arrive at her office.
The Taliban said its men had killed Gayle Williams, who was be buried in Kabul yesterday, because her organisation preached Christianity - a charge rejected by the group, Serve Afghanistan.
Interior ministry criminal investigation chief Mirza Mohammad Yarmang said a post-mortem would confirm that the guard for DHL had killed the two Westerners and then himself.
He had been working with the same security company for three years, Yarmang said.
Police arrested more than a dozen people for questioning after the killing, including other guards and employees of DHL.
Most had been released but two were still being questioned, Yarmang said.
Authorities would also order security companies to verify the backgrounds of their employees, he said.
The Afghan government is trying to regulate security companies operating in the volatile country and has closed down several for not having licences.
However, there are still thousands of private guards in the capital.
AFP
The Westerners - the head and deputy head of the Afghanistan branch of international shipping company DHL - were killed early Saturday as their vehicle pulled up outside their office in the city centre.
"One of the security guards that was standing in front of the company opened fire on the chief and deputy of DHL," interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said.
"After killing those people, he killed himself with one bullet under his chin."
Bashary said police were looking into the background of the guard, employed by an Afghan branch of a British-based security company, to find out what had led him to kill the two Westerners.
"No one knows if this person was recruited (to carry out the killing) or there was infiltration of the enemy," Bashary said, referring to Taliban extremists behind a wave of violence in Afghanistan.
The Taliban have rejected involvement in the murder, which came a week after a British-South African aid worker was shot dead - also as she was about to arrive at her office.
The Taliban said its men had killed Gayle Williams, who was be buried in Kabul yesterday, because her organisation preached Christianity - a charge rejected by the group, Serve Afghanistan.
Interior ministry criminal investigation chief Mirza Mohammad Yarmang said a post-mortem would confirm that the guard for DHL had killed the two Westerners and then himself.
He had been working with the same security company for three years, Yarmang said.
Police arrested more than a dozen people for questioning after the killing, including other guards and employees of DHL.
Most had been released but two were still being questioned, Yarmang said.
Authorities would also order security companies to verify the backgrounds of their employees, he said.
The Afghan government is trying to regulate security companies operating in the volatile country and has closed down several for not having licences.
However, there are still thousands of private guards in the capital.
AFP
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