Afghanistan: British Soldier, 4 Afghanis Killed

Kidnapped road workers in Afghanistan found dead ​

Sun Jun 11, 10:00 AM ET ​

Four members of a road building crew were found shot dead in southern Afghanistan on Sunday in an area where Taliban fighters have carried out similar killings in the past, a provincial official said.

Separately, a soldier with the U.S.-led coalition troops, was killed on Sunday after a roadside bomb hit a car in the convoy of the troops during an offensive against Taliban guerrillas in Ghazni province to the southwest of Kabul, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The death brings the number of coalition losses to 37 during combat this year in Afghanistan. Twenty seven of those killed have been American soldiers.

The bodies of the four men, who are all believed to be Afghans, were found in a roadside ditch in Maiwand district four days after they were abducted while working for an Indian road construction company, Dawud Ahmad, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, told Reuters.

Employees of Indian road builders have been targeted in the past by Taliban fighters, sowing more distrust between governments in the region.

The Afghan government believes that many of the insurgents cross over from Pakistan, though Pakistan insists it is doing its best to stop them.

Pakistan is believed to be unsettled by the Indian presence in southern Afghanistan and by New Delhi's warm relations with President Hamid Karzai's government, according to diplomats.

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