Two airport workers killed in Afghanistan bus ambush, says police official

Foreign airlines have not resumed flights to Afghanistan, citing security concerns for their crew and passengers. PHOTO: AFP

KABUL (AFP) - Unidentified gunmen fired at a bus ferrying airport employees in northern Afghanistan on Sunday (June 12), killing at least two people and wounding six others, a senior police official said.

The bus was ambushed by two gunmen on its way to the Mazar-i-Sharif airport, Balkh provincial police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri told AFP.

"The vehicle came under attack when the technical team was on its way to the airport," Mr Waziri said.

The ambush was the latest in a series of deadly attacks that have hit Afghanistan in recent months.

Foreign airlines have still not resumed flights to Kabul and other Afghan cities since the Taliban seized power in August, citing security concerns for their crew and passengers.

While Taliban fighters provide security at all Afghan airport terminals, a United Arab Emirates firm has been tasked with providing ground handling and passenger screening services at several facilities.

Since the Taliban's return to power, the country has faced an acute shortage of professionals in a wide array of fields, including technical staff for the country's airports.

While levels of violence in Afghanistan have fallen since the Islamist group returned to power, bombings and gun attacks have ticked up recently.

On Saturday, a bomb blast targeting a minibus in the capital Kabul killed at least four people and injured several others.

Dozens of civilians were killed in Kabul and other cities - primarily in sectarian attacks - during the holy month of Ramadan, with some attacks claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terror group.

Many of those attacks targeted the country's Shiite Hazara and Sufi communities.

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