KABUL (1TV) — At least 10 members of HALO Trust, a UK-US non-governmental organization specializing in mine clearance and removal of unexploded ordnances, were killed by masked men in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials blamed the attack on members of the Taliban movement. The incident occurred in Baghlan province.

The HALO Trust (Hazardous Area Life-support Organization) is a non-political and non-religious registered British charity and American non-profit organization which removes debris left behind by war, in particular land mines. With about 6,000 deminers worldwide, HALO’s largest operation is in Afghanistan, where the organization operates as an implementing partner of the Mine Action Programme for Afghanistan (MAPA).

According to HALO, they and the Mine Action Programme of Afghanistan have made safe almost 80% of the country’s recorded minefields and battlefields. In West Kabul, HALO spearheaded one of the biggest urban clearance operations since WWII, allowing a city decimated by war to rebuild. In Herat Province, HALO syas to have cleared over 600 minefields.