HEART CITY (SW): Local officials in the western Herat province have confirmed that at least 15 de-miners have been abducted by unknown armed men.
Reports emerging from Herat suggest that the mine-clearers have been abducted from the Kohsan district. It is said that the abducted men belonged to the “HALO Trust”, a non-political and non-religious registered British charity and American non-profit organization, which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines, with nearly 8,000 mine-clearers.
HALO's largest operation is in Afghanistan, where the organization operates as an implementing partner of the Mine Action Program for Afghanistan (MAPA).
Jailani Farhad, spokesman for the provincial government, told Salam Watandar that unknown armed men abducted the mine-clearers with their vehicle. Abdul Rauf Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial police department, said in this regard that the law enforcement agencies are busy in the search operation.
It is vital to note that some 63 members of the same organisation were abducted from Herat’s Pashtunkot district three years ago.
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