2 female guards at US base shot dead in Afghanistan

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Two local female employees of the Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan, were shot dead by unknown gunmen, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Abdul Shukor Qudosi, governor of northern Bagram district, told Anadolu Agency that a group of four women guards employed at the air base were shopping at a nearby market at around noon time when they came under attack.

"Four women employees of a private security firm stationed at the outer first entry point of the base were shot at in the market," he said, adding one of the women died on the spot, while a second one succumbed to her wounds on the way to hospital.

Dr. Qasem Sangin, head of the Parwan Public Hospital, where the two wounded guards were taken, also confirmed the death toll.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Zaman Mamozai, the provincial police chief, said that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the shooting. He said the attackers were riding a motorcycle.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Working for the Afghan government or the foreign forces remains deadly dangerous in the conflict-riddled country.

Two months ago, in an early morning armed assault, the Taliban in Afghanistan killed ten local guards of the same military base. In a statement on group's website, the Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed the victims were not civilians but "spies for the American forces".

The June 20 attack came exactly a year after 15 Nepali and Afghan guards of the Canadian Embassy were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul.