Two female aid workers who were both Christian have been killed in the western city of Herat in Afghanistan.
The Finnish nationals were shot dead by two men on a motorcycle as they were travelled in a taxi in the Shar–e-Now area of the city on Thursday.
It's understood the two aid workers had been serving with International Assistance Mission, a Christian based organisation in Afghanistan for a number of years and had also lived in Herat for several years.
They both spoke Dari well and knew and respected the culture of Afghanistan. One of the female staff workers first came to Afghanistan in 1999 and returned a year and a half ago after a break of several years. She was helping to establish social work within IAM's mental health project in Herat.
The other woman had just returned to Afghanistan a few days earlier to work as the Team Leader of IAM in Herat. She first came to Afghanistan in 1998 and worked in Kabul and later as the Project Manager of IAM's Community Development Project in Herat. She was also supporting our Business Development project for illiterate women. Our prayers are with their relatives, friends, Afghan and international colleagues.
Dr Heini Mäkilä, Acting Executive Director, IAM confirmed the deaths in a statement to Premier, she said: "With deep sadness we confirm that today, July 24th, two Finnish expatriate female staff members of IAM have been killed in Herat. We are in the process of informing the relatives and therefore cannot confirm any other details. Our prayers are with their relatives, friends, Afghan and international colleagues. The relevant authorities are currently investigating the killings. We will send out another press release as soon as we can."
International Assistance Mission, a Christian organisation has been operating in Afghanistan since 1966 and is the longest continually serving NGO in the country; serving the people of Afghanistan through capacity building in the sectors of Health and Economic Development.