Italian Aid Workers Arrested Over Afghan Assassination Plot
April 12th, 2010Via: Al Jazeera:
Nine people, including three Italian medical workers, have been arrested in Afghanistan for allegedly plotting to kill a provincial official.
Gulab Mangal, who is the governor of Helmand, said those held were planning attacks in Lashkar Gah, the province’s main city, “and the number one target was myself”.
He said that the alleged operation, by the three Italians and six Afghans, was funded by the Afghan Taliban based in Pakistan.
Suicide bomb vests, hand grenades, pistols and explosives were found in a hospital storeroom where the three worked, which is run by the Italian charity Emergency.
Police were tipped off about a plot to kill Mangal, a government spokesman, said.
Speaking from Milan, Cecilia Strada, the head of Emergency, told Al Jazeera that this was a completely groundless claim.
“It sounds quite ridiculous that they would be involved in any plot. They have spent the last few years in Afghanistan, helping and treating people for free.
“We ask that you respect their rights, first of all, the right to communicate with us and let us know where they are and what their condition is.”
Raid video
The Associated Press obtained a video of the raid that shows British troops accompanying Afghan police, soldiers and government officials to the hospital.
In a storeroom, boxes are opened containing what appear to be bullets, pistols, hand grenades, and bags of explosives.
A British soldier is heard saying that an explosives-disposal unit was on its way when the explosives were found.
The three Italians are then shown sitting on outdoor benches but the names on their identification cards are not visible.
Research Credit: B
It’s so hard to find a good Suk doctor with his Imperial Conditioning still intact, these days.