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UN deplores ‘cowardly’ murder of Afghan aid worker

UN deplores ‘cowardly’ murder of Afghan aid worker

The United Nations today expressed shock at the “cowardly” murder of an Afghan national contracted by the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN HABITAT), who was dragged from the car he was travelling in and shot dead on Saturday.

Mohammad Hashim, the latest in a series of aid officials murdered in the war-torn country, was undertaking a monitoring visit to National Solidarity Programme communities and project sites in Bala Buluk district of Farah province when six armed men stopped his vehicle. Community Council members travelling with him tried to intervene, but were unsuccessful.

“Mr. Hashim’s death is a great loss for Afghanistan and for all of us in the United Nations family here,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Tom Koenigs said in a statement. “The death of such a treasured colleague will be a matter of enormous sadness to those who knew him, and to all who care about Afghanistan’s rebuilding.”

UN-HABITAT and the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation also strongly condemned the murder.

“Mr. Hashim was a dear Muslim brother serving the communities in Afghanistan and assisting in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of villages in Bala Buluk District. We urge the people and the local authorities in Bala Buluk to join forces to find the perpetrators of this horrific act and bring them to justice,” they said in a joint statement.

“These sorts of cowardly acts will not deter the Government, UN-HABITAT and other aid agencies from reaching the far flung communities, promoting national solidarity and advancing the process of rural development in Afghanistan.”