Kabu:
The Red Cross announced on Tuesday it was pulling some international staff out of Afghanistan as it investigates a deadly suicide and gun attack on its offices in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
The two-hour assault last Wednesday, which left one Afghan guard dead, was the first time International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices have been targeted in Afghanistan since it began work there 26 years ago.
"We have decided to reduce the number of expatriates in the field and in Kabul simply because we don't understand what happened in Jalalabad," ICRC spokesman Robin Waudo told AFP.
"This is a temporary measure that impacts on operations, but we will maintain our humanitarian services for those affected by conflict," he said, declining to give the number of staff being withdrawn or the affected services.
"It was a serious security incident. We are trying to understand how it came about that we were attacked."
The ICRC, which has 1,800 employees nationwide, had 36 staff in Jalalabad, seven of them foreigners who were rescued from the compound.
The aid group maintains strict neutrality in Afghanistan and was thought to be protected from attack by its working relations with the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
Among the services it provides are orthopaedic centres for victims of landmines and fighting.
"Many people need appointments for their physical rehabilitation but we have to weigh this against the security of our staff," Waudo said.
The Taliban has denied any involvement in the attack.
The two-hour assault last Wednesday, which left one Afghan guard dead, was the first time International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices have been targeted in Afghanistan since it began work there 26 years ago.
"We have decided to reduce the number of expatriates in the field and in Kabul simply because we don't understand what happened in Jalalabad," ICRC spokesman Robin Waudo told AFP.
"This is a temporary measure that impacts on operations, but we will maintain our humanitarian services for those affected by conflict," he said, declining to give the number of staff being withdrawn or the affected services.
"It was a serious security incident. We are trying to understand how it came about that we were attacked."
The ICRC, which has 1,800 employees nationwide, had 36 staff in Jalalabad, seven of them foreigners who were rescued from the compound.
The aid group maintains strict neutrality in Afghanistan and was thought to be protected from attack by its working relations with the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
Among the services it provides are orthopaedic centres for victims of landmines and fighting.
"Many people need appointments for their physical rehabilitation but we have to weigh this against the security of our staff," Waudo said.
The Taliban has denied any involvement in the attack.
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