KABUL, (Online): The Red Cross is halting its work in Afghanistan following a recent attack on its workers which the aid agency said was despicable. Six workers were killed in an ambush of their convoy on Wednesday by suspected militants. Two others are missing.
\nThe Red Cross said they needed to temporarily suspend aid activity to understand what had happened. One official warned that attacks on aid workers in conflict zones could become the norm.
\nPolice believe the ambush in the northern province of Jowzjan was carried out by militants from so-called Islamic State.
\n“Nothing can justify the murder of our colleagues and dear friends,” they said.
\nThe aid agency has had an uninterrupted presence in Afghanistan for 30 years.
\nMike Adamson, chief executive of the British Red Cross, said there was a “profoundly worrying escalation in loss of life of humanitarian workers”.
\n“They [the latest developments] risk marking the moment that the death of people who should be protected under the international rules of war became the norm,” he said.
\n“We cannot accept that… After each attack comes a chorus of condemnation. Such condemnation is starting to fall on deaf ears.”
\nICRC director of operations Dominik Stillhart said the agency would “definitely do everything” to resume operations.
\nThe bodies of the six workers were taken to the provincial capital Sheberghan and from there to Mazar-e-Sharif, officials say. A search is under way for the two ICRC employees who were not accounted for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KABUL, (Online): The Red Cross is halting its work in Afghanistan following a recent attack on its workers which the aid agency said was despicable. Six workers were killed in an ambush of their convoy on Wednesday by suspected militants. Two others are missing. The Red Cross said they needed to temporarily suspend aid activity […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11928","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n