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Kabul, Sept. 12, 2017 (dpa/NAN) The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has closed its orthopaedic centre in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province after a Spanish staff member was shot dead by a patient, Spokesman for the ICRC, Ahmad Ayaz, said on Tuesday.
Ayaz said “the action was prompted after Lorena Enebral Parez, a 38-year-old Spanish woman was shot on Monday by a patient.
“Lorena’s work involved helping children, women and men who lost legs and arms, or with many other forms of disability.’’
Monica Zanarelli, Head of ICRC in Afghanistan, said “our hearts are broken” and described
the aid worker as “energetic and full of laughter.
“The violent fluctuations of life seem particularly cruel today.”
Shir Durani, Spokesman for Balkh police, said two suspects both disabled, between the ages of 21 and 30 who were being treated at the centre were arrested in connection with the incident.
He said a disabled assailant hid a pistol on his bicycle and entered the ICRC prosthetics centre.
The centre was the only facility operating in northern Afghanistan as ICRC had halted most operations countrywide after six of its staff members were killed by unknown gunmen in northern Jawzjan on Feb. 8.
The ICRC was one of the organisations that operated the longest in Afghanistan, helping war and polio victims get access to much-needed medical assistance, including prosthetics.
The seven rehabilitation centres stretched around the war-torn country produced over 19,000 artificial legs, arms and other orthopaedic devices each year. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu