Islamic extremism in the troubled country after five workers of Doctors without Borders were shot in an attack on their vehicle near the village of Khairkhana, about 350 miles (560 kilometers) west of the capital Kabul.
The Brussels- based Nobel Peace Prize-winning aid agency has suspended its work in Afghanistan following Wednesday’s violence in which three foreigners and two Afghans were killed apparently by Islamic militants linked to the previous Taliban regime. Doctors Without Borders named the dead as Afghans Fasil Ahmad and Besmillah, Belgian Helene de Beir, Egil Tynaes of Norway, and Dutchman Willem Kwint, Bloomberg news agency reported.
It came also as a major setback for Christian organizations like International Aid (IA) who fear the latest accident is part of a new trend, reported Mission Network News (MNN), a mission news service and broadcaster.
"(It) wasn’t very long ago that someone in a military situation that wore a red cross or was involved in development work was kind of off limits to the combatants and that seems to be changing both in Afghanistan and Iraq," IA’s President Myles Fish told MNN.
NATO REQUESTED
The President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, has asked NATO to provide more stability after he reportedly postponed parliamentary and presidential elections planned for June to September due to safety concerns. Afghanistan has been beset by security problems since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 that ousted the Taliban.
Yet, Fish stressed it was impossible to be ready for these kinds of militant attacks "The instances that are being reported now are so haphazard and unpredictable that it’s very difficult to take precautions. We’re always in the company of nationals and we are following their lead. And, when they sense danger we respond and when they don’t sense danger we feel that we’re pretty safe," he said.
SECURITY PROBLEMS
But Fish added the new violence will not stop IA’s travel plans and activities in Afghanistan which has been beset by security problems since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 that ousted the Taliban regime. IA’s work includes a medical clinic that is the only source of medical care in an Afghan community.
The organization has asked Christians to pray for safety for their workers in Afghanistan and other parts of the world and to provide funding, MNN reported.
"No matter what news source you take advantage of, you don’t have to listen or read it very long to know that there are uncountable opportunities for ministry and people in need all over the world. Our ability to respond to those needs is in direct proportion to the financial resources we are granted," Fish told MNN.
