Eight Afghan workers headed to US base likely killed by Taliban

Eight Afghan workers headed to a US base were kidnapped and shot to death on Thursday south of Kabul, in an incident that is suspected to be attributable to the Taliban. 

The deadliest such attack since the Ramadan religious holiday began, the workers were headed to their jobs at Camp Shank when they were accosted in their car, then blindfolded and shot in the head, according to AFP.

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"They were eight ordinary laborers going to work at that base. They were day laborers," said Logar deputy police chief Raeis Khan Abdul Rahimzai to the Associated Press of the killings. "This is very hard to believe. It is an inhuman and un-Muslim act against innocent people."

The eight young men, between the ages of 15 and 25, had temporary day jobs at  Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar province, and weren't part of the regular base staff. The driver of the van was released unharmed. 

No organization or group has taken responsibility for the killings, although the Taliban have vowed they will step up their attacks during Ramadan, writes the Associated Press. 

Some interepreters and others who have worked for foreign forces in Afghanistan are desperately seeking permission to settle in the US and the UK after the planned troop pullout at the end of 2014, fearing other reprisal attacks.