The International Committee of the Red Cross temporarily suspended some of its efforts in Afghanistan on Thursday, a day after gunmen killed six employees delivering aid to a remote northern region hit by heavy snow storms.

A search operation was under way to find two charity workers still missing.

The head of the ICRC called the incident the “worst attack against us” in 20 years, but the group said it did not know who was responsible.

“We will put our operations on hold for at least a week after our colleagues were killed in the attack last night,” Thomas Glass, an aid worker and public relations officer with the ICRC, told Al Jazeera.

“We’ve been in Afghanistan for the past 30 years assisting people in need. We want to provide aid and help but not at the cost of our colleagues. So we need to know what happened before we restart our humanitarian efforts.”

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera his group was not involved in the attack.

The governor of Jowzjan province, Lotfullah Azizi, said the aid convoy was attacked by suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) gunmen.

A massive snowstorm dumped as much as two metres of snow on areas of Afghanistan over the weekend, causing an avalanche that killed more than 100 people.

Jowzjan police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani said the ICRC workers’ bodies had been taken to the provincial capital.

“These staff members were simply doing their duty, selflessly trying to help and support the local community,” ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

Afghanistan is the Red Cross’ fourth-largest humanitarian programme in the world, and the attack follows a warning by the charity last month that mounting security issues made it difficult to deliver aid across the country.

Gunmen in northern Afghanistan kidnapped a Spanish ICRC employee in mid December, releasing him nearly a month later.

That staff member had been travelling with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz when assailants stopped their vehicles. The local staff were immediately released.</s>After six employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, the aid organisation announced that it would temporarily suspend efforts in the country and called the offensive the "worst attack against us" in 20 years.

Also read: Kabul blast: Suicide bomber kills at least 20 people near supreme court

Two employees of the charity organisation have gone missing after they tried to deliver aid to a remote northern region hit by snow storms.

"We will put our operations on hold for at least a week after our colleagues were killed in the attack last night," Thomas Glass, an aid worker and public relations officer with the ICRC, told Al Jazeera. They said they're haulting services "because we need to understand what exactly happened before we can hopefully resume our operations".

"We've been in Afghanistan for the past 30 years assisting people in need. We want to provide aid and help but not at the cost of our colleagues. So we need to know what happened before we restart our humanitarian efforts."

Taliban has denied responsibilty of the attack. The governor of the Jowzjan province suspects the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) hand.

"Daesh is very active in that area," he said.

Jowzjan police chief said the bodies of the ICRC workers were taken to the provincial capital.

"These staff members were simply doing their duty, selflessly trying to help and support the local community," ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

Higher altitude regions of Afghanistan have been hit by a massive snowstorm over the weekend with snowfall as high as two metres. It also led to the death of 100 people in an avalanche.

In December 2016, gunmen in northern Afghanistan had abducted a Spanish ICRC employee, who was released a month later. He was with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz. The locals had not been abducted.</s>Red Cross suspends some activities in Afghanistan after gunmen attacked a convoy in Jowzjan and killed six staff.

The International Committee of the Red Cross temporarily suspended some of its efforts in Afghanistan on Thursday, a day after gunmen killed six employees delivering aid to a remote northern region hit by heavy snow storms.

A search operation was under way to find two charity workers still missing.

The head of the ICRC called the incident the "worst attack against us" in 20 years, but the group said it did not know who was responsible.

"We will put our operations on hold for at least a week after our colleagues were killed in the attack last night," Thomas Glass, an aid worker and public relations officer with the ICRC, told Al Jazeera.

"We've been in Afghanistan for the past 30 years assisting people in need. We want to provide aid and help but not at the cost of our colleagues. So we need to know what happened before we restart our humanitarian efforts."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera his group was not involved in the attack.

READ MORE: MSF driver killed in attack on convoy in CAR

The governor of Jowzjan province, Lotfullah Azizi, said the aid convoy was attacked by suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) gunmen.

A massive snowstorm dumped as much as two metres of snow on areas of Afghanistan over the weekend, causing an avalanche that killed more than 100 people.

Jowzjan police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani said the ICRC workers' bodies had been taken to the provincial capital.

"These staff members were simply doing their duty, selflessly trying to help and support the local community," ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

Afghanistan is the Red Cross' fourth-largest humanitarian programme in the world, and the attack follows a warning by the charity last month that mounting security issues made it difficult to deliver aid across the country.

READ MORE: Afghans expelled by Pakistan in dire need of aid

Gunmen in northern Afghanistan kidnapped a Spanish ICRC employee in mid December, releasing him nearly a month later.

That staff member had been travelling with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz when assailants stopped their vehicles. The local staff were immediately released.</s>The International Committee of the Red Cross suspended operations in Afghanistan after gunmen killed six employees helping deliver emergency relief to a remote northern region hit by heavy snowstorms.

The governor of Jowzjan province said the aid convoy was attacked by suspected Islamic State gunmen. The head of the Red Cross called the incident the "worst attack against us" in 20 years.

A search operation was underway to find two charity workers who were still missing late on February 8.

"Our operations are on hold indeed, because we need to understand what exactly happened before we can hopefully resume our operations," the charity's director of operations Dominik Stillhart said.

Afghanistan hosts the Red Cross's fourth largest humanitarian program in the world, Stillhart said, and the attack follows a warning by the charity last month that mounting security issues are making it perilous to deliver aid to large swathes of the country.

"The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire. We are one of the few organizations that is present throughout the country, and we will do everything we can to maintain our response in Afghanistan," he said.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters</s>The International Committee of the Red Cross temporarily suspended some of its efforts in Afghanistan on Thursday, a day after gunmen killed six employees delivering aid to a remote northern region hit by heavy snowstorms.

A search operation was under way to find two charity workers still missing.

The head of the ICRC called the incident the "worst attack against us" in 20 years, but the group said it did not know who was responsible.

"We will put our operations on hold for at least a week after our colleagues were killed in the attack last night," Thomas Glass, an aid worker and public relations officer with the ICRC, told Al Jazeera.

"We've been in Afghanistan for the past 30 years assisting people in need. We want to provide aid and help but not at the cost of our colleagues. So we need to know what happened before we restart our humanitarian efforts."

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Al Jazeera his group was not involved in the attack.

READ MORE: MSF driver killed in attack on convoy in CAR

The governor of Jowzjan province, Lotfullah Azizi, said the aid convoy was attacked by suspected Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) gunmen.

A massive snowstorm dumped as much as two metres of snow on areas of Afghanistan over the weekend, causing an avalanche that killed more than 100 people.

Jowzjan police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani said the ICRC workers' bodies had been taken to the provincial capital.

"These staff members were simply doing their duty, selflessly trying to help and support the local community," ICRC President Peter Maurer said.

Afghanistan is the Red Cross' fourth-largest humanitarian programme in the world, and the attack follows a warning by the charity last month that mounting security issues made it difficult to deliver aid across the country.

READ MORE: Afghans expelled by Pakistan in dire need of aid

Gunmen in northern Afghanistan kidnapped a Spanish ICRC employee in mid-December, releasing him nearly a month later.

That staff member had been travelling with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz when assailants stopped their vehicles. The local staff were immediately released.</s>The International Committee of the Red Cross suspended operations in Afghanistan after gunmen killed six employees helping to deliver emergency relief to a remote northern region hit by heavy snowstorms.

The governor of Jowzjan Province said the aid convoy was attacked by suspected Islamic State gunmen. The head of the Red Cross called the incident the “worst attack against us” in 20 years.

A search operation was under way to find two charity workers who were still missing late on February 8.

“Our operations are on hold, indeed, because we need to understand what exactly happened before we can hopefully resume our operations,” the charity’s director of operations, Dominik Stillhart, said.

Afghanistan hosts the Red Cross’s fourth-largest humanitarian program in the world, Stillhart said, and the attack follows a warning by the charity last month that mounting security issues are making it perilous to deliver aid to large swaths of the country.

“The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is dire. We are one of the few organizations that is present throughout the country, and we will do everything we can to maintain our response in Afghanistan,” he said.

Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters

Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
• Congress looking for a Trump war plan for Afghanistan
• Islamic State threatens more attacks in Afghanistan as US hits militants in eastern province</s>Kabul: The international Red Cross on Thursday temporarily suspended its activities in Afghanistan following an attack that killed six of its employees the previous day in a northern province.

According to Thomas Glass, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, the aid group's "activities are on hold" until next Tuesday or possibly longer.

The organization, he told The Associated Press, needs "to reassess how we can conduct our work" safely following Wednesday's attack near the northern town of Shibirghan.

Glass described the assault as the "worst incident" for ICRC in 16 years in Afghanistan. The eight-person ICRC team was delivering livestock materials near Shibirghan, the capital of Jowzjan province, when the gunmen attacked their convoy.

"We are not planning to leave Afghanistan," he added. "We need to have a dialogue with all parties in the conflict about the security and safety of our staff."

No one has claimed the attack, but the provincial police chief, Rahmatullah Turkistani, said it was likely carried out by Islamic State militants, who have a presence in the area. The Taliban, who have been waging a 15-year insurgency against the Kabul government, denied involvement.

Earlier on Thursday, an Afghan official said NATO drone strikes killed 11 Islamic State militants, including two senior commanders, in the eastern Nangarhar province.

According to Mohammad Hussain Mashraqiwal, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, the two commanders killed in Wednesday's strikes were Mohammed Omar Sadiq and Omar Farooq. Six people were also wounded in the airstrikes, he added.

U.S. Navy Cpt. Bill Salvin, a military spokesman, confirmed that American forces conducted counterterrorism strikes in Nangarhar on Wednesday, without providing further details.

An Islamic State affiliate has emerged in eastern Afghanistan as a rival to the much larger Taliban, and has carried out attacks targeting the country's Shiite minority and security forces.

In other violence on Thursday, a gunman shot and killed a member of the provincial council along with four of his bodyguards in norther Baghlan province, police spokesman Jawed Basharat said.</s>Hunt for two Red Cross workers after deadly Afghan ambush

Syrian refugees wait for the distribution of humanitarian aid by volunteers of the Bulgarian Red Cross outside a refugee centre in Sofia October 3, 2013. Red Cross said today that two of its members are missing after an attack in Afghanistan. — Reuters picKABUL, Feb 10 — The Red Cross said today it was desperately searching for two employees who went missing after their convoy came under insurgent fire in northern Afghanistan, leaving six other workers dead.

The aid workers were ambushed in northern Jowzjan province on Wednesday while they were en route to a remote snowbound area to deliver much-needed relief supplies.

Six employees were killed on the spot, many of them shot from close range, in one of the worst attacks on the international charity in the country for years.

“Unfortunately, there’s no news yet on our two colleagues unaccounted for,” Thomas Glass, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP.

“We are actively trying to locate them.”

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings, but Jowzjan’s police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani has blamed local Islamic State jihadists.

The ambush underscores how aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly become casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years.

“This event demonstrates the urgent need for all parties to respect their obligations under International Humanitarian Law to... (provide) aid workers with a safe environment to work in,” the UN said, noting that those killed were travelling in a clearly marked ICRC vehicle.

The attack comes at a time when Afghanistan is in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with more than 100 people killed in recent avalanches and tens of thousands displaced by the wrenching conflict.

The ICRC, which has been working in Afghanistan for three decades, said it was putting its nationwide operations on hold, but there were no plans for now to withdraw staff.

The Taliban, the largest militant group in Afghanistan which promptly distanced itself from the attack, has assured ICRC of security in areas under their control.

“The (Taliban) calls on the officials of ICRC to refrain from suspending their services as the Afghan nation is (in) need of humanitarian aid and health services more than ever before,” the group said on their official website yesterday. — AFP</s>The Afghan Taliban denied any involvement in the murder of six workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross Afghanistan and the disappearance of two more workers today in Jawzjan province. Instead, the Taliban said the attack was the work of "kidnappers."

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Long War Journal.</s>Hunt for two Red Cross workers after deadly Afghan ambush

The Red Cross was desperately searching for two employees who went missing after their convoy came under insurgent fire in northern Afghanistan, leaving six other workers dead, the charity said Friday.

The workers were ambushed in northern Jowzjan province on Wednesday while they were enroute to a remote snowbound area to deliver much-needed relief supplies.

Six employees were killed on the spot, many of them shot from close range, in one of the worst attacks on the international charity in the country for years.

"Unfortunately, there's no news yet on our two colleagues unaccounted for," Thomas Glass, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told AFP.

"We are actively trying to locate them."

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings, but Jowzjan's police chief Rahmatullah Turkistani has blamed local Islamic State jihadists.

The attack underscores how aid workers in Afghanistan have increasingly become casualties of a surge in militant violence in recent years.

It comes at a time when Afghanistan is in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with more than 100 people killed in recent avalanches and tens of thousands displaced by the wrenching conflict.

The ICRC, which has been working in Afghanistan for three decades, said it was putting its nationwide operations on hold, but there were no plans for now to withdraw staff.

The Taliban, the largest militant group in Afghanistan which promptly distanced itself from the attack, has assured ICRC of security in areas under their control.

"The (Taliban) calls on the officials of ICRC to refrain from suspending their services as the Afghan nation is (in) need of humanitarian aid and health services more than ever before," the group said on their official website on Thursday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross announces it will be temporarily halting some of its operations in Afghanistan after gunmen killed six of its workers yesterday.