(New York)—Attacks on humanitarian aid workers throughout Afghanistan are endangering the delivery of assistance to those most in need, Human Rights Watch said today.
Five aid workers with the medical group Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) were killed June 2 in an ambush on a road in northwestern Afghanistan. The Taliban apparently claimed responsibility for the assault. Since March 2003, at least 32 aid workers have been killed in Afghanistan, and Taliban forces were implicated in many of these attacks. Yesterday’s attack led MSF to temporarily suspend its activities in Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch strongly condemned the attack, and offered condolences to the families and colleagues of the five workers.
“These were people who had devoted themselves to helping and healing Afghans,” said John Sifton, Afghanistan researcher for Human Rights Watch. “Attacking relief workers directly harms the millions of Afghans who rely on humanitarian aid for their food and health.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Taliban to cease attacks on civilians and humanitarian staff, and denounced Taliban leaders for suggesting that such attacks were justified. A man claiming to be the spokesman for the Taliban, Abdul Hakim Latifi, telephoned several journalists on June 2 to claim responsibility for the attack.
“We killed them because they worked for the Americans against us using the cover of aid work,” Latifi reportedly told Reuters. “We will kill more foreign aid workers.”
