Police evict 120 Afghan hunger strikers

OSLO, NORWAY: Police evict 120 Afghan hunger strikers from the grounds of Oslo Cathedral, where the group had been protesting for three weeks against plans for their imminent deportation, 16 June 2006. No arests were made, and police said they took some of the asylum seekers to hospital. The deportations were ordered for some 2,000 rejected Afghan asylum seekers after a goverment plan to pay them to leave failed. Afghanistan is currently in the throes of its worst surge in violence since the extremist Islamic Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001, ending 23 years of war. AFP PHOTO/ DANIEL SANNUM LAUTEN (Photo credit should read Daniel Sannum Lauten/AFP via Getty Images)