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Top UN envoy for Afghanistan condemns latest killing of electoral workers

Top UN envoy for Afghanistan condemns latest killing of electoral workers

The top United Nations envoy for Afghanistan today condemned in the strongest terms the murder Friday of two Afghan electoral workers in an attack on their convoy.

A spokesman for Jean Arnault, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and chief of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), said Mr. Arnault “was encouraged that police accompanying the convoy managed to capture one of the attackers and hopes that others will be apprehended and brought to justice soon.”

According to the spokesman, four vehicles of the Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) Secretariat – the independent body mandated to conduct and supervise elections – and the police were attacked between 5:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. yesterday near the village of Yakhdan in Kijran District, Uruzgan Province, in the country’s centre.

During the attack training officer Mohammed Hashim and driver Mohammed Hussein were both killed. A third person, who is yet to be identified, is reported to be missing. All four vehicles were destroyed and investigations into the incident continue.

Through his spokesman, Mr. Arnault conveyed his condolences and expressed his deepest sympathy to the families, friends and colleagues of the deceased. “He also sincerely hopes that one other member of the convoy who is currently missing is found soon and alive,” the statement said.