Save the Children’s Office in Afghanistan Attacked by ISIS

The van blasted by the attackers in front of the Save the Children Jalalabad office The van blasted by the attackers in front of the Save the Children Jalalabad office AFP Photo/Noorullah SHIRZADA

5 February 2018
Three people have been killed in an attack organised by ISIS at the NGO’s office in Jalalabad.

On 24th January, 2018, the office of Save the Children in Jalalabad (Afghanistan) was attacked by a group of gunmen. Three people were killed, and more than 20 were wounded.  

The attack began with a suicide car bomb which detonated at the gate of the office around 9am. Four gunmen in police uniform then entered the compound and battled Afghan security forces for more than 8 hours, whilst 47 people were being rescued from the building. Three members of the Save the Children staff were killed. In a statement on its Amaq news agency, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack; declaring that it was targeting British, Swedish and Afghan government institutions. The office of Save the Children is located in an area characterised by the presence of many governmental buildings, at the heart of the city.

This attack is just one of several which took place in Afghanistan in the past few months. On 20th January, 2018, an assault on the Inter-Continental Hotel in Kabul killed 18 civilians. On 27th January, Taliban militants detonated an ambulance packed with explosives in a crowded street of Kabul, killing more than 100 civilians. Monica Zanarelli, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Afghanistan, declared that, "Increased violence has made operating in Afghanistan difficult for many organisations.” Save the Children, which helps almost 1.4 million children in Afghanistan has temporarily suspended its operations.

For more information, read:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-blast/gunmen-storm-save-the-children-aid-group-office-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1FD0DZ
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/01/blast-save-children-afghanistan-jalalabad-180124050807137.html
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/terrorist-attacks-in-afghanistan-put-kabul-residents-on-edge

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