KABUL, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified armed men shot dead fouremployees of a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Afghanistan's northern Jauzjan province on Tuesday, a senior local official confirmed.

    Armed men riding motorcycle opened fired at the vehicle of Actionaid, a British humanitarian agency that has provided aid to Afghans for the past several years, killing four persons includingthree women and their driver in Manjigak area, provincial police chief Mohammad Ibrahim told Xinhua. All the victims are Afghans.

    This is the first time that aid workers have come under attack in the relatively peaceful northern region while Taliban-led insurgency has been on the rise in the southern provinces.

    The attackers escaped and no group or individual has claimed responsibility for it so far, said the official.

    Over 350 people, mostly Taliban loyalists, have been killed in Taliban-linked militancy over the past two weeks, bringing the total number of casualties to some 600 since the beginning of thisyear. Enditem