Gunmen shoot dead pupil, janitor in Helmand

Taleban fighters gunned down a schoolboy and a janitor in the Kart-e-Lagan area of the southern province of Helmand on December 17. Provincial security officials said the incident took place on the afternoon of December 17 after two Taleban motorcyclists entered the Kart-e-Lagan school, killing a guard and a schoolboy. Witnesses said the two armed Taleban motorcyclists, brandishing arms and shouting, escaped before security forces arrived. The attack came shortly after suspected Taleban militants gunned down a schoolteacher in front of his students in the Nad Ali district of Helmand on December 15.