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Insurgents Attack Red Cross Compound in Afghanistan
[NY Times] KABUL, Afghanistan -- In a shock to humanitarian aid workers, jacket wallahs in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday assaulted the offices of the International Committee of the Red Thingy, an organization that has worked in the country for more than 30 years without suffering a concerted attack and has received praise from all sides.Security forces managed to evacuate all seven Western employees working in the Jalalabad compound, with only one injured, the provincial police said. One guard was killed and another maimed when one of the attackers went kaboom!at the entrance to the compound, which caught fire after the blast. The other two attackers also died in the assault. The compound was surrounded by Afghan forces during and after the attack, police officials said. The violence came as a shock to the Red Thingy, which said it was the first time its offices had been attacked since it arrived in Afghanistan over 30 years ago. The organization is widely respected by both sides of the conflict for its impartial approach to humanitarian assistance. In addition to aiding injured Afghan civilians of all political persuasions, the agency ferries messages to imprisoned Taliban detainees from their families, a service the Taliban praised in a June 2012 statement. Posted by: Fred 2013-05-30 |
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