Afghan aid workers die in ambush
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South Korea is sending 200 troops to Afghanistan this week.
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A springtime offensive would focus on catching Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Five Afghan aid workers died in an ambush near the capital, Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said Thursday, the latest in a stream of deadly attacks on civilians.
The victims were traveling in a vehicle near Surobi, about 60 kilometers (40 miles) east of Kabul, on Wednesday afternoon when they came under fire, Jalali said.
Two more aid workers were injured and another is still missing.
"We've made no arrests, and we don't know how many attackers there were, but there were some reports of terrorists moving back and forward in this area," Jalali told a news conference.
The victims were from an Afghan aid group called FBF and were working on government projects to rebuild the rural economy, which has been devastated by more than two decades of violence.
Jalali had no further details.
More than two years after the fall of the Taliban, much of the country is still vulnerable to attacks blamed mainly on Taliban militants. More than 100 people have died in violence this year alone, including aid workers and government employees as well as foreign and Afghan security forces.
Attacks have come mainly in the south and east of the country, but the capital and the far west also have been targeted in recent weeks, raising doubts about plans for landmark national elections this northern summer.
South Korea is sending more than 200 troops to Afghanistant this week to bolster overseas security forces already in the country.
Meanwhile, Pakistani military forces, using helicopters and heavy artillery, have detained at least 25 people during raids in a remote border region where al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are believed to have sought refuge.
The raids were in South Waziristan region near the border with Afghanistan. (Full story)
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