Officials: Female Afghan Government Worker Killed Outside Home

Posted August 16th, 2011 at 4:10 am (UTC-5)
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Afghan officials say a female provincial government worker was shot and killed early Tuesday outside her home in Kandahar city.

A government spokesman says the woman, Rabia Sadat, was shot by an unidentified gunman as she walked to her car on Tuesday morning.

Sadat worked in the government's social affairs program in Kandahar province. No group has yet claimed responsibility, and officials are not sure why the woman was targeted.

The attack comes a day after militants attacked a supply depot outside the main international military base in southern Kandahar province, killing four security guards.

Kandahar provincial spokesman Zalmai Ayubi said insurgents armed with explosives Monday stormed the compound operated by Netherlands-based Supreme Group, which supplies fuel to the military.

Militants have carried out several high-profile killings in Kandahar in recent weeks. Last month, a suicide bomber, with explosives hidden inside his turban, assassinated the mayor of Kandahar.

Also last month, a trusted, a trusted bodyguard shot and killed President Hamid Karzai's half-brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai.

Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001, with international troop and Afghan civilian deaths reaching record levels.