Masked armed men have assaulted the compound of a mining compensation organization in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 10 workers and injuring 16.
There were 110 workers at the Halo Trust charity camp in the province of Baghlan at the time of the attack on Tuesday night.
James Cowan, executive director of the organization based in the United Kingdom, told Al Jazeera, armed men “wanted to find specific people of a particular ethnic group.”
Later, on Wednesday, the site’s intelligence monitoring group said that the armed group of Isil (ISIS) had claimed the responsibility of the attack.
Previously, the government had blamed the Taliban by the attack, but the Armed Group denied responsibility.
Halo Trust said the taliban fighters actually helped finish with the RAID, which happened when dozens of demonstrate relax in the complex after a day that happened in search of crafts in the area.
“The local Taliban actually came to our attendance, and the Taliban themselves have denied responsibility, so my suspicion is that it is a different organization,” Cowan said.
A survivor told the AFP news agency that five or six armed men climbed the composite walls and gathered all together before asking if there was some Hazara present.
“No one replied,” said the survivor, who asked not to identify himself.
He said that the armed men asked the Leader of the Compound to identify, before shooting him dead.
“Then one of them said that ‘Make them all,” he added. “When they opened fire, we all try to escape, some were killed and some, like me, were injured.”
The SHIA Hazara community of Afghanistan: a group representing up to 15 percent of the 30 million inhabitants of Afghanistan, is often directed by the Wrestlers of Isil, who consider them heretics.
An official in the area said that most surviving workers fled to nearby villages after the attack and police worked to help them.
‘Largest Afghanistan program’
The struggle between Taliban and government forces has increased through Afghanistan, including Baghlan, from May 1, when the US military began their final retirement of troop in the middle of a deadlock in peace talks between Kabul and the armed group.
On Wednesday, Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh blamed the Taliban for the Halo Base Attack, alleging in a Tweet, group fighters wanted to “steal money and unexploded devices” from the compound.
The Taliban dismissed the accusation of the government.
“We condemn the attacks on speins and see it as brutality,” said Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on Twitter.
“We have normal relationships with NGOs, our Mujahidide will never carry out these brutal acts.”
