Pakistan | UN Condemns Murder of Aid Workers

New York (March 11) – Six aid workers with World Vision International were killed in a deadly attack on its office in Mansehra district of Pakistan. The aid workers were assisting survivors related to the deadly earthquake of October 2005.

John Holmes, Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, condemned the attacks as “appalling” and part of a “continuing pattern of assaults” on aid workers.

Speaking with reporters in New York, the Under Secretary stated, “The Secretary-General and I both condemn that unreservedly and call for humanitarian workers in Pakistan, as elsewhere, who are simply there to help the people of Pakistan to be protected and not attacked in this way.”

United Nations Secretary, Ban Ki-moon in a statement released related to this, and other missions in the area stated, “All the armed actors in the country must ensure the safety of aid workers, not least for the sake of the people they are trying to help.”

This is not the first time, members of various UN missions have been the target of terrorists. In January 2009, 12 UN staff members were killed, and 12 others injured in separate attacks including, a suicide attack on the main office of the World Food Programme last October that took the lives of five.

The United Nations, and its partners assisted the Pakistani Government by providing assistance to over 2 million displaced citizens, during the fighting in Northwest Pakistan. So far the members of the United Nations and NGO’s have helped over 4.3 million people with food subsidies, in an operation that continues to date.

source: UNNews – photographs courtesy of UNNews

Posted by rgrone on March 11, 2010. Filed under International Criminal Justice,International News,terrorism,United Nations Headlines,WorldNewsVine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.