Save the Children has confirmed that four of its staff members were killed yesterday in a targeted attack on the charity’s office in Jalabad, Afghanistan.
Four other members of staff were injured in the attack and are receiving medical treatment. All other staff have been safely rescued from the office.
In a statement, the charity said: “Save the Children condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. We are shocked and appalled at the violence, carried out against our staff in Afghanistan who are dedicated humanitarians, committed to improving the lives and wellbeing of millions of children across the country.
“We are doing everything we can to ensure all of our staff get the support they need in the aftermath of this devastating incident.”
'Attacks against aid workers must never be tolerated'
Save the Children said that investigations into the nature of the attack are ongoing, and the motive cannot yet be confirmed.
It said “attacks against aid workers must never be tolerated and have a direct impact on the children we work to protect”.
Save the Children has been working in Afghanistan since 1976 providing life-saving health, education, nutrition and child protection programmes that have helped millions of children.
The charity said it has temporarily suspended its operations across the country following the attack, but that it remains “fully committed to helping the most deprived children of Afghanistan”.
In an email to the charity’s supporters Kevin Watkins, Save the Children UK’s chief executive, said: “Children in Afghanistan are growing up in the shadow of conflict, in one of the most difficult places in the world to be a child and for humanitarian workers to operate in. For them, horrors like this are a brutal reality.
“Our staff are on the front line there, delivering urgently-needed health and nutrition programmes, education and protection to children.
“Today's news is a reminder of the importance of why, together, we need to keep on doing everything we can to help children, to create a future free from fear.”
Editor's note: This story has been updated following an announcement from Save the Children that a further staff member had been killed as a result of the attack on the charity's offices in Afghanistan. This brings the total number killed up to four.
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