U.N. condemns Afghan attack on Chinese

UNITED NATIONS, June 10 (UPI) -- U.N. officials and members of the U.N. Security Council Thursday condemned the killing of 11 Chinese construction workers and a guard in Afghanistan.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan was shocked to learn of the killing and condemned "this outrageous and contemptible act against unarmed civilians," said a spokeswoman at U.N. World Headquarters in New York.

Council members urged all U.N. members to cooperate actively in an effort to find and bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of the attack, said Ambassador Lauro Baja of the Philippines, this month's president of the council.

The attack occurred on the outskirts of the northern city of Kunduz and also left five workers injured, one of them in critical condition. The victims were part of a team working on the World Bank-funded Kunduz-Baghlan road.

"The Chinese Government strongly condemns these terrorist attacks aimed at the Chinese construction workers who are in Afghanistan helping the Afghanistan people," Chinaese U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said.

Beijing's envoy also said Ambassador Gunter Pleuger of Germany told him Germany has agreed to send its forces "to protect the Chinese construction workers."