KABUL, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reduced its presence in militancy-hit Afghanistan following a series of attacks on its staff, the organization announced Monday.
"Following intensive discussions, together with the organization's headquarters in Geneva, the ICRC has reached the conclusion that there is no other choice but to drastically reduce its presence and activities in Afghanistan, in particular in the north of the country," the ICRC said in a statement issued here.
The decision came one month after a female Spanish physiotherapist was shot dead by a patient in a ICRC hospital in northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.
"Since December 2016, the ICRC has been directly targeted in northern Afghanistan three times, including in what we considered one of our safest facilities, the rehabilitation centre in Mazar-i-Sharif. These incidents have affected not only the ICRC in Afghanistan, but the organization as a whole," Monica Zanarelli, head of the ICRC delegation in Afghanistan, was quoted in the statement as saying.
Zanarelli said that "this is a difficult moment for the ICRC and the staff.
"After 30 years of continuous presence in the country, we are reducing our presence and operations. But let's be very clear, we are not leaving Afghanistan. Limiting our staff's exposure to risks is our focus, all the while assisting the people affected by the conflict the best way we can," she said.
More than 1,800 staff have been working for the ICRC's operation in Afghanistan, which is one of the biggest of its kind in the world.
