Afghanistan

A suicide bomber killed four NATO service members, 10 civilians and two police officers at a medical clinic in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, officials said. The attack took place amid deteriorating security as most soldiers from International Security Assistance Force — the NATO-run international force — prepare to leave the country after 12 years of war against the Taliban.

(Geneva, May 16, 2014) – Hundreds of attacks on health workers have occurred in dozens of countries around the world since 2012, Human Rights Watch and the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said in a joint report released today. The report, released in advance of a meeting on May 19 to 24, 2014, of health ministers from around the world, called on governments to do more to protect patients, health workers and facilities from attack in countries undergoing conflict and civil unrest. The 28-page report, “Under Attack: Violence against health workers, patients and facilities,” highlights recent attacks in countries around the world.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemns the killing of three civilians by a gunman at a private hospital in Kabul. UNAMA following a statement said, all three slain were foreigners who selflessly helped people of Afghanistan in need of medical assistance. The gunman is reported to be a security officer and the motive behind the attack is unknown and no organization has claimed responsibility.

ACBAR wishes officially to express its disapproval of any attack, intimidation, violence or threats against NGOs working in Afghanistan. We appeal to all parties to the Afghan conflict to respect the neutrality of NGOs and the work they do with the aim of helping people of Afghanistan without implication of the ongoing conflict. NGOs – both local and international – play a critical role in providing relief and development aid to needy people in all 34 provinces of Afghanistan; often in areas were other services providers have limited or no access.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The patients in the four hospitals run by Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan are the lucky ones, by all accounts, having arrived at well-stocked facilities that maintain international standards with scrupulously free care. But when the French medical aid organization, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, surveyed 800 of those patients last year, the results depicted a dismaying picture of unmet health care needs.