Red Cross To Scale Back In Afghanistan

Some people traveled for days across the harsh terrain of northern Afghanistan to reach the orthopedic center only to find its gates closed. Staff and security guards had tried to spread the word that the center was suspending operations after a Spanish physical therapist was gunned down in September, but some never received the devastating news. They stood there in tears, say local staff.

The center reopened Tuesday, but the International Committee of the Red Crossis hoping to turn it over to the Afghan government or a local nongovernmental organization — part of a major scaledown in northern Afghanistan.

The international group has operated continuously in the country for 30 years. Some of its aid workers have been abducted and killed over that span of time, but the intensity of attacks has stepped up. In the past 11 months, Red Cross workers were targeted three times. Two of the incidents took place while staff members were traveling on the country's dangerous roads. Then came the attack in September that set a new precedent.

The incident did not happen on roads where the Red Cross must rely on security guarantees from armed groups. It happened in an orthopedic center, a place where the country's war victims came for 26 years to receive physical therapy, prosthetic limbs and medical treatment along with people with polio, spinal injuries and other issues. - Read More

Red Cross To Scale Back In Afghanistan