MSF Halts Afghan Operations

Médecins sans Frontières yesterday suspended all their operations in Afghanistan after five of their staff were killed by gunmen claiming to have acted on behalf of the Taliban.

Voting registration sites in the province of Badghis, where the killings took place, have also been closed while the security situation is assessed.

The five MSF workers were yesterday identified as Helene de Beir from Belgium, 30; Willem Kwint, 40, from the Netherlands; Egil Tynaes, 63, from Norway; Fasil Ahmad, a translator, and Desmillah, a driver, both from Afghanistan.

The five had been travelling in a vehicle with MSF's distinctive markings between Khairkhana and Qala-i-Naw in the Badghis province when their vehicle was attacked by a grenade and gunfire.

MSF has been operating in Afghanistan since 1979 and worked throughout the Taliban period. The aid organisation has worked in the Badghis province since 1999 and the area was not considered a security problem.

"For the time being our activities will be suspended nationwide," said the MSF's acting head of mission, Samuel Hauenstein, at a press conference in Kabul.

Staff are now being moved to safe areas. Arrangements were yesterday being made to fly the bodies home.

With elections delayed from June to September, there are fears the Taliban will step up their activities to disrupt the polling. More than 3 million people have now registered to vote in the postponed elections.

The killings were condemned yesterday by Jean Arnault, the UN's special representative to Afghanistan.