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UN suspends relief operations in Pak following attack
Islamabad, July 25: The United Nations suspended its operations in Pakistan`s tribal northwest after three gunmen attacked a World Health Organization vehicle, a UN spokesman said today.
Islamabad, July 25: The United Nations suspended its operations in Pakistan's tribal northwest after three gunmen attacked a World Health Organization vehicle, a UN spokesman
said today.
No one was injured in Wednesday's attack about 13 kilometers outside Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, which borders Afghanistan, said Jack Redden, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency.
The United Nations was conducting a security check of the province before resuming its operations. Redden couldn't say when services might resume.
"The car was disabled by the shooting and the three people ran off," redden said. The World Health Organization employees fled from the vehicle and were unhurt. "Immediately all the UN vehicles were recalled to their bases and the staff was told to return," he said. "It was certainly a serious attack."
The regional offices of the various UN organizations will remain open. But there will be no travel outside of Peshawar until a security clearance is given.
The suspension will hurt Pakistan's remote frontier regions where the various UN organizations run schools, health care facilities and food distribution centers.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack and redden refused to speculate who may be behind it. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been working with Afghan refugees in Pakistan to help them return to their homeland following the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Bureau Report
The United Nations was conducting a security check of the province before resuming its operations. Redden couldn't say when services might resume.
"The car was disabled by the shooting and the three people ran off," redden said. The World Health Organization employees fled from the vehicle and were unhurt. "Immediately all the UN vehicles were recalled to their bases and the staff was told to return," he said. "It was certainly a serious attack."
The regional offices of the various UN organizations will remain open. But there will be no travel outside of Peshawar until a security clearance is given.
The suspension will hurt Pakistan's remote frontier regions where the various UN organizations run schools, health care facilities and food distribution centers.
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack and redden refused to speculate who may be behind it. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been working with Afghan refugees in Pakistan to help them return to their homeland following the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001.
Bureau Report