Slain Japanese aid worker's body recovered in Afghanistan
Authorities identify the worker as Kazuya Ito, an engineer who was kidnapped a day earlier in Nangarhar province. He is the fourth foreign aid worker killed in Afghanistan in the last two weeks.
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — The bullet-ridden body of an abducted Japanese aid worker was recovered today, the latest grim symbol of insurgents' determination to make it difficult for outside humanitarian groups to operate in Afghanistan.
Afghan and Japanese authorities identified the slain man as Kazuya Ito, an engineer who was kidnapped by gunmen a day earlier in Nangarhar province, east of Kabul. He was the fourth foreign aid worker killed in the country in the last two weeks.
Ito was 31 and worked for a Japanese organization called Peshawar-kai, meaning the Peshawar group. Based in Fukuoka, Japan, it is named for a city just across the border in Pakistan that is home to hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.
Ito was working on agricultural development projects in a remote eastern area of Afghanistan, Japanese diplomats and colleagues said. According to authorities, gunmen stopped his car Tuesday near the eastern city of Jalalabad, which lies on the main road connecting the Afghan capital and the Pakistani frontier. Ito's Afghan driver was released unharmed.
The governor of Nangarhar province, Gul Agha Sherzai, said an attempt had been made to rescue Ito, but provided no details. Reuters news agency quoted Sherzai as saying the aid worker was "killed brutally," and Japanese news reports said he suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
Taliban insurgents, who readily claimed responsibility for an ambush Aug. 13 that killed three Western women aid workers and their Afghan driver, did not directly acknowledge seizing Ito. But a purported Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the aid worker was killed in a clash between Afghan troops and insurgents.
According to its website, Peshawar-kai mainly concentrates on providing medical and development aid to Afghans in their homeland and in Pakistan. It was not known whether the group, which has been active in the area since 1983, would continue its work in Afghanistan.
In attacks against Western forces and aid groups, insurgents sometimes deliberately target the nationals of countries where they believe public opinion does not favor a presence of any kind in Afghanistan.
Japan has no troops in the NATO-led coalition, but it does provide logistical aid to Western forces, including maritime refueling support.
laura.king@latimes.com
Special correspondent Faiez reported from Kabul and Times staff writer King from Istanbul, Turkey. Special correspondent Hisako Ueno in Tokyo contributed to this report.
