Akram Mohammad Gul, an employee of the International Rescue Committee in Afghanistan, was shot and killed in an attack in Logar Province southeast of the capital Kabul on Wednesday, July 18. Mustafa Sayed Abdullah, a driver of the hired vehicle carrying Akram, was also killed in the attack, which was carried out by unidentified gunmen.

The two men were traveling in Logar's Charkh District, where the IRC is a partner of the National Solidarity Program, a nationwide community development project. As they crossed a bridge in the village of Dabar Alo, their vehicle was overtaken by two men on a motorcycle, who opened fire with an assault rifle through the front window of the vehicle, hitting both victims multiple times.

Akram, 40, has worked as a social organizer for IRC in his native Logar since April 2006, and is survived by his wife and seven children, and by his father and eight brothers. Mustafa, 28, has worked with the IRC as a rental car driver since 2006, and is survived by two sons, two sisters and his mother.

"Both were committed, respected colleagues who worked tirelessly for the development and reconstruction of Afghanistan," said Ciarán Donnelly, who directs the IRC's operations in Afghanistan and is based in Kabul. "Their tragic death represents a crime not just against their families, but against the whole Afghan people."

The IRC, which operates humanitarian aid and development programs in 25 countries, has been serving conflict-affected Afghan communities since 1980 and began work in Logar Province in 1992. Since then, the IRC has provided assistance to hundreds of communities in agriculture and irrigation, livelihoods and skills training, education, shelter, water and sanitation, and, since 2003, community development through the National Solidarity Program.