Source:
Washington PostBy Joshua Partlow
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, April 17, 2010
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN -- The Taliban has begun regularly targeting U.S. government contractors in southern Afghanistan, stepping up use of a tactic that is rattling participating firms and could undermine development projects intended to stem the insurgency, according to U.S. officials.
Within the past month, there have been at least five attacks in Helmand and Kandahar provinces against employees of U.S. Agency for International Development contractors who are running agricultural projects, building roads, maintaining power plants and working with local officials.
The USAID "implementing partners," as they are known, employ mainly Afghans, who are overseen by foreigners. The companies' role is becoming increasingly important as more aid money floods into southern Afghanistan as part of a dual effort to generate goodwill and bolster the Kabul government.
A suicide car bomb that exploded Thursday evening outside a compound used by Western contractors in Kandahar City was the latest and deadliest attack. The 9:30 p.m. blast killed at least four Afghan security guards and wounded 16 other people, including at least two Americans, along with South African and Nepalese employees. The compound houses USAID contractors, including Chemonics International, the Louis Berger Group and the Central Asia Development Group, according to U.S. officials.
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