4/6/2004
Five Aid Workers Murdered In Afghanistan

Five members of Médecins sans Frontières were murdered this week in north western Afghanistan when they were caught in what appeared to be an ambush on the road between the towns of Khairkana and Qala-I-Naw. Two of the dead were Afghans, the others came, respectively, from the Netherlands, Norway and Belgium.

Expressing his anger and distress, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the cold-blooded killings and called on the country's authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. He offered his condolences to their families.

The Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, called the attack "yet another tragic and unacceptable act directed at the aid community."
Security in the country remained insufficient, he said, and noted that in recent months the situation had worsened. "Sadly and worryingly, yesterday's attack confirms this assessment," he said.