Gunmen opened fire at a car belonging to a Japanese physician and aid worker in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, seriously wounding him and killin
Gunmen opened fire at a car belonging to a Japanese physician and aid worker in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, seriously wounding him and killing five Afghans, including his three security guards, the driver and a colleague, officials said.
The attack took place in eastern Nangarhar province and targeted Dr. Tetsu Nakamura as he was heading to the provincial capital, Jalalabad, according to the provincial governor’s spokesman, Attaullah Khogyani.
Nakamura was reported to be in critical condition and was undergoing surgery at a local hospital. After that, he would be transferred to the capital, Kabul, for further treatment, said Gulzada Sanger, the hospital spokesman.
Nakamura is well known in Japan for his aid work, which dates back decades.
The Peshawar Kai website states that Nakamura began aid work in Peshawar in northwest Pakistan in 1984, going on to open a clinic in a remote Nangarhar village in 1991.
The organization in 1998 established a hospital in Peshawar to serve as the group’s permanent base for medical programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
One of Nakamura’s Japanese colleagues, Kazuya Ito, was abducted and killed in 2008 in Nangarhar.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the second in as many weeks targeting aid workers in Afghanistan. Both the Taliban and Daesh terror group operate across the province.
Nangarhar police said they were searching for the attackers, who fled the scene, and that an investigation was underway.
Photos from the scene showed a white pickup truck with a large cabin. Its side windows appeared to have been shot out, and at least three bullet holes could be seen in the windshield.
In late November, an American working for the United Nations mission in Afghanistan was killed and five Afghans, including two staff members of the mission, were wounded when a grenade hit a U.N. vehicle in Kabul.
Also in the capital, the Taliban in May targeted Counterpart International, a U.S.-funded non-profit group working with marginalized people. Nine people were killed in that attack.