Bride-to-Be Among Slain Medics

Among the 10 victims executed by militants in northern Afghanistan on Friday were a British surgeon due to be married in two weeks and 51-year-old Colorado dentist Thomas Grams, who was described by friends as a “sweetie pie.” The pair were part of a 10-person team providing basic health services to rural parts of the country, including six Americans, two Afghans, one German, and Karen Woo, the British surgeon, 36. Woo, said one friend, “took life by the horns.” Another said she was “a lovely, vibrant, and energetic woman.” She had given up her job at a London clinic to do humanitarian work. The Taliban has taken credit for killing the medical workers as they were returning to Kabul after a two-week mission, claiming that they were attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity. Their Afghan driver was spared after he begged for his life while reciting verses of the Koran.