Red cross in Afghan province halts operation following kidnapping

In the wake of abduction of the five workers of International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan's restive Ghazni province the aid agency has suspended its operations in the province.

ICRC spokesman in the war-torn country, Ahmad Ramin Ayaz, said on Thursday, "Following abduction of five workers in Ghazni, we have suspended our operations there in the province."

Unknown armed men in Ghazni kidnapped five workers of ICRC on Tuesday, the official said.

However, he did not point finger at any group or individual, saying efforts are underway to secure the safe release of the abductees.

In a related incident, in Ghazni's neighboring Wardak province, a day later on Wednesday, Afghan forces allegedly in operations against militants, raided a health clinic run by a Swedish aid agency the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA) and killed three persons, the aid agency said in a statement released here on Thursday.

"The information from Wardak indicates that the raid was conducted by the Afghan National Army," the statement added.

According to the statement, the attack was conducted in Tangi Saidan area on Wednesday night and claimed the lives of three people including two patients and a personal caretaker of the clinic.

"This attack constitutes a gross violation of humanitarian principles and the Geneva Convention that all actors of a conflict have to respect. Medical facilities and medical staff are to provide treatment to anyone in need and patients are to be granted safety according to humanitarian law," the statement said.

"SCA is a neutral party in the military conflict that prevails in Afghanistan. The patients who are being treated at our clinics have the right to be protected," says Jorgen Holmstrom, Country Director of SCA, in the statement.

However, the statement added, "We will further investigate this violation and let those responsible be held accountable."

Earlier in the day, spokesman for the Wardak provincial government, Toryali Hemat told Xinhua that the government special forces raided Taliban hideout in Tangi Saidan area Wednesday night and killed four insurgents on the spot besides injuring two others and capturing another.

Air strikes by U.S. military against Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)-run hospital in Afghanistan northern Kunduz province in last October had prompted the international medical organization to suspend its operations for several weeks.