An international aid group operating in Afghanistan says a kidnapped American aid worker and her Afghan driver apparently have been killed by their captors.
The Asian Rural Life Development Foundation said Tuesday it had received information that its two staff members, Cyd Mizell and Muhammad Hadi, are dead. Afghan and U.S. officials have not confirmed the deaths.
Mizell and Hadi were kidnapped January 26 in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, and the Taliban has denied responsibility.
Separately, Afghan officials say insurgents opened fire on a convoy carrying Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Muqbal east of Kabul Wednesday. They say no one was hurt and it is not clear if the minister was the target of the attack.
In other developments, authorities say a bomb struck a civilian vehicle in the eastern province of Khost Wednesday, killing one person and wounding at least six others.
Elsewhere, the U.S.-led coalition said a Taliban rocket attack in the Kajaki region of Helmand province killed five Afghan civilians Monday. The Afghan military also said two soldiers were killed Tuesday in fighting with insurgents in Kandahar province.
Cyd Mizell, 50, a native of the western U.S. state of California, moved to Kandahar in 2005. She taught English to high school students and helped women learn income-producing skills such as sewing and embroidery.
Hadi, a Kandahar resident, served as a driver for the aid group for two years.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.