CCI is saddened to report that a former hostage, kidnapped and later released in Afghanistan in 2008, was shot and killed in Afghanistan on Monday, July 23, 2012.
CCI is reprinting a news article from The Daily Record for educational purposes only concerning this event. Details of the attack should be noted, especially by agencies with personnel working in Afghanistan.
When additional information clarifying information is available, CCI will publish an update.
“KIDRON ENGINEER KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN
From staff and wire reports Published: July 25, 2012 4:00AM
WOOSTER — A Kidron man taken hostage in Afghanistan in 2008 and held captive for 56 days before being released was shot and killed Monday in a rural part of that country.
Al Geiser, 65, of Kidron, was with two Afghans, one a business partner and close friend and the other a co-worker, and returning from a job that was part of a hydroelectric project when they were killed, according to a press release issued by Carl Wiebe, pastor of Kidron Mennonite Church.
The Associated Press reported gunmen killed three people in an ambush on a van in northern Afghanistan, and one of the victims was an electrical engineer who lived in the country for decades. However, the AP story did not contain the information of the American killed.
The U.S. Embassy could not provide further details about the slain American because of privacy laws, but three Afghan security officials said he had been working in Afghanistan for about 30 years.
Afghan officials said two or three assailants attacked the vehicle Monday in the northern Parwan province. Two Afghans — the driver and one of the American’s colleagues — were also killed in the attack, said Shirin Agha, the police chief in Parwan’s Siahgerd district.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the killings.
It was unclear whether the American was the intended victim of the attack, or whether the van was specifically targeted by the attackers.
If the American was indeed the target, officials did not know how the gunmen knew he was in it. It is unsafe for foreigners to travel unescorted in most parts of Afghanistan and they are often targets for insurgent and criminal groups.
An official for the Afghan National Security Directorate, Nihmatullah, said one of the shooters was wearing a uniform of the Afghan Local Police, a village-level security organization. Like many Afghans, he goes by one name.
Mujahid said in a text message to The Associated Press that an Afghan policeman opened fire and killed three people, including the American.
Geiser, an engineer and independent businessman, went to Afghanistan with his wife, Gladys, in 2000 with the goal of providing villages with sustainable energy using hydroelectricity. They went before the country became a focal point in what has become known as the war on terror.
“They were simply living out their lives following the model of Jesus, serving the needs of all people,” Wiebe stated. “The Geisers were aware of and accepted the risks in their work for peace in Afghanistan and have exemplified a lifestyle of Christian service having served internationally, nationally and locally for many years.”
Despite being taken hostage in mid-August 2008, the Geisers returned to Afghanistan after coming back to the United States and talking about their ordeal to their home congregation at Kidron Mennonite Church in October 2008.
Geiser spent 56 days blindfolded, and he was forced to lay on the ground. He remained a hostage until Oct. 14, 2008, when U.S. military rescued him during a nighttime raid.
While in captivity, Geiser said among the thoughts running through his head were about the projects he was involved in and what the future might hold.
“Life or death. I’ve faced death. That’s OK. It’s the unknown … the waiting that’s hard,” he told the congregation. He had been read his last rites and was told by his captors he would be comforted soon.
“It took me a bit to follow that through, that they meant death and heaven for me,” Geiser said at the time.
During the ordeal, Gladys Geiser prayed for God’s help. She described those prayers as not being polite, rather screams or shouts for help from God. It helped to comfort her.
Geiser had with him a string of prayer beads. One of his captors asked him why he prayed so much because “your fate is not in God’s hands. It’s in mine.”
Geiser said he thought, “That’s true, but whose hand is your fate in?”
Following the Geisers comments with the congregation in October 2008, then-pastor Terry Shue led a service for the Geisers to help cleanse them from the trauma and for healing.
Gladys Geiser resides in Kabul, where she teaches in an Afghan school. Their two children reside in the United States.
According to the desires of Geiser and his family, he will be buried in Afghanistan in a Christian cemetery following a Christian service. A memorial service will be held in Kidron at a later date.”