Two NGO Workers Shot Dead In Southeast Afghanistan

COLOGNE, Germany, Aug 4 (AFP) - Two Afghan men working for a German non-governmental organisation, the Maltese Order, have been shot dead in southeast Afghanistan, the group said Wednesday.
The two were shot Tuesday by gunmen in a passing car as they drove near Neak Nam in the area around Surmat. One man was killed instantly and his 19-year-old colleague died from his wounds later in a Bagram hospital.
The Maltese Order, which has been working with the UN refugee agency since last year to help ease the return of displaced people in Afghanistan, told AFP that it was suspending all its operations in the country.
A spokesman said the organisation was troubled by the lack of security throughout Afghanistan, particularly ahead of the presidential elections due to take place in October.
The poll, which has already been delayed twice, would be the first since the hardline Islamic Taliban militia were ousted from power in 2001 by a US-led war following the September 11 attacks on the United States.
The Maltese Order has some 20 international staff, who are assisted by around 250 local workers, in place in the capital Kabul and seven other provinces to help with reconstruction.