Ban: U.N. staffers may have been killed by Afghan security forces

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon‘s office said today that a U.N. board of inquiry has concluded that four U.N. staffers may have been killed by Afghan security forces who might have mistaken them for Taliban insurgents. Ban’s spokesman said the U.N. chief has called on the Afghan authorities to conduct a "thorough investigation" into their deaths. ...

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's office said today that a U.N. board of inquiry has concluded that four U.N. staffers may have been killed by Afghan security forces who might have mistaken them for Taliban insurgents.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon‘s office said today that a U.N. board of inquiry has concluded that four U.N. staffers may have been killed by Afghan security forces who might have mistaken them for Taliban insurgents.

Ban’s spokesman said the U.N. chief has called on the Afghan authorities to conduct a "thorough investigation" into their deaths. He has also called on his top aides to meet with top Afghan officials and NATO commanders to address failings in their communications with the United Nations.

The U.N. staff  were attacked in a pre-dawn raid by Taliban insurgents who were seeking to disrupt the country’s planned presidential runoff. But the U.N. findings, which were first reported by Turtle Bay last week, indicated that they may have been killed by Afghan security forces that came to their aid.

Colum Lynch was a staff writer at Foreign Policy between 2010 and 2022. Twitter: @columlynch

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