Global perspective Human stories

UN Mission in Afghanistan condemns deadly attack on the Red Cross

The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) plays a critical and impartial humanitarian role in Afghanistan.
ICRC/Marcel Stoessel
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) plays a critical and impartial humanitarian role in Afghanistan.

UN Mission in Afghanistan condemns deadly attack on the Red Cross

The United Nations in Afghanistan today ‘strongly condemned’ a deadly attack on the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in Jalalabad in the eastern province of Nangarhar, and reiterated its calls for protection of medical and aid workers in the country.

A national security guard will killed in the 29 May attack, while two ICRC staff members were injured. There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

In a statement released today from Kabul, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) extended its condolences to the family of the guard and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.

UNAMA noted that the ICRC plays a “critical and impartial humanitarian role in Afghanistan.”

It stressed that attacks on humanitarian and medical personnel are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law, and emphasized that all medical and humanitarian personnel in the country must be respected and protected at all times.

The attack came less than a week after the office of the International Organization for Migration in Kabul was attacked injuring four aid workers and reportedly killing three civilians passing on the street at the time of the attack.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other senior UN officials condemned the attack and urged that those responsible be brought to justice.