Roadside bomb kills three Afghan aid workers

Tue Jun 23, 2009 2:24pm BST

* Three Afghan aid workers killed in roadside bomb

* Worked for UNHCR's local partner agency



(Adds details on aid work underway)

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, June 23 (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed three Afghan aid workers who were working alongside the United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday in Afghanistan's northern Jowzjan province, the United Nations said.

Earlier, the provincial governor Hashim Zari said the three who were killed were employees of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, but U.N. officials said they had been working for a partner organisation, Development and Humanitarian Services for Afghanistan (DHSA).

Zari blamed the Taliban for the blast, part of a rise in militant attacks in recent months in several parts of northern Afghanistan, regarded as relatively secure until recently compared to the south and east where Islamists are most active.

U.N. spokesman Dan McNorton said the aid workers had been on their way to a project site and were using unmarked vehicles given to them by the UNHCR.

William Spindler, a spokesman for the UNHCR in Geneva, said the group was helping to shelter former refugees who had returned home to Afghanistan. Since 2002, Spindler said DHSA has helped 188,000 families build homes, providing tools, beams and door and window frames.

"No one has claimed responsibility (for the attack)," UNHCR said in a statement expressing deep regret at the loss of life.

Zari said authorities had arrested three men.

The Taliban, who lead the insurgency against the government and foreign troops, could not be reached for comment. (Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis in Geneva; Writing by Sayed Salahuddin and Jonathon Burch; Editing by Sugita Katyal)




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