Thursday, August 14, 2008

Aid Work Deadly in Afghanistan

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), an American aid group, has suspended its humanitarian programs in Afghanistan 'indefinitely' following the deaths of three of its workers in a Taliban ambush.

All three foreign aid workers were women. The workers were killed in the Qalah Rahmat area of Puli Alam, the capital of Logar province. The attackers escaped and police were deployed to track them down. The Afghan driver was wounded.

The IRC has been working in Afghanistan for 20 years, providing life-saving aid and recovery assistance to the Afghan people, it added.

Peter Biro, spokesman for the organization said that the workers included an American-Trinidadian citizen, a dual British-Canadian citizen and a Canadian citizen and their Afghan driver.

Attacks on aid workers have increased this year as the Taliban, the former Islamic fundamentalist ruler of Afghanistan, stepped up its insurgency after a lull in the fighting during the winter.

At least 19 aid workers had been killed in the country so far this year while violence has also hampered the delivery of aid to remote areas in the south and east, according to the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief.

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