(task) Gunmen storm Save the Children aid group office in Afghanistan

GRS

4

war and terrorism, Afghanistan, humanitarian

>
> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-blast/gunmen-storm-save-the-children-aid-group-office-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1FD0DZ <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-blast/gunmen-storm-save-the-children-aid-group-office-in-afghanistan-idUSKBN1FD0DZ>
>
> <https://www.reuters.com/>
>
> Davos
> <https://www.reuters.com/subjects/davos>
> The Trump Effect
> <https://www.reuters.com/trump-effect>
> Politics
> <https://www.reuters.com/politics>
> North Korea
> <https://www.reuters.com/north-korea>
> Technology
> <https://www.reuters.com/news/technology>
> Myanmar 
> <https://www.reuters.com/entity?v=d.opencalais.com/er/geo/country/ralg-geo1/a7aae4f0-bc2e-a0dd-fb8d-68ce32c9261f>
> Future Of Money
> <https://www.reuters.com/future-of-money>
>
> #WORLD NEWS <https://www.reuters.com/news/archive/worldNews>JANUARY 24, 2018 / 12:17 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
> Gunmen storm Save the Children aid group office in Afghanistan
> Rafiq Sherzad <https://www.reuters.com/journalists/rafiq-sherzad>, Ahmad Sultan <https://www.reuters.com/journalists/ahmad-sultan>
> <https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Freut.rs%2F2n7o7P3&text=Gunmen%20storm%20Save%20the%20Children%20aid%20group%20office%20in%20Afghanistan> <https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Freut.rs%2F2n7o7P3&t=Gunmen%20storm%20Save%20the%20Children%20aid%20group%20office%20in%20Afghanistan>
> JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Gunmen stormed an office of the Save the Children aid agency in Afghanistan’s eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday and battled security forces surrounding the building, with at least three people killed and 20 wounded, officials said.
>
>
> Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, which began with a suicide car bomb outside the office at about 9 a.m., followed by gunmen entering the compound.
>
> SPONSORED
>
>
> “There was a blast and the target was Save the Children,” said Attaullah Khogyani, a provincial government spokesman. “Attackers entered the compound and the fight is going on.”
>
> Some witnesses said there appeared to have been at least four attackers in police uniform, a commonly used tactic, but there was no immediate official confirmation.
>
> It was not clear if two of the dead were attackers or civilians, the spokesman said. A member of the security forces was also killed.
>
> “An explosion rocked the area and right after that children and people started running away,” said Ghulam Nabi, who was nearby when the bomb exploded. “I saw a vehicle catch fire and then a gunfight started.”
>
> Islamic State said the attack targeted British, Swedish and Afghan government institutions in a statement on its Amaq news agency. Save the Children was founded in Britain and a Swedish aid group office and a building of the Afghan Department of Women’s Affairs are near the compound.
>
> The attack underlines how difficult operating in Afghanistan has become for humanitarian aid bodies, which have faced heavy pressure from armed groups and kidnappers.
>
> Save the Children, which says it reaches almost 1.4 million children in Afghanistan, said it had suspended its operations temporarily and closed its offices in Afghanistan
>
> “Our primary concern remains to secure the safety of all of our staff,” a group representative said in an emailed statement.
>
> Afghan security forces arrive at the site of a blast and gun fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan January 24, 2018. REUTERS/Parwiz
> “We remain committed to resuming our operations and lifesaving work as quickly as possible, as soon as we can be assured that it is safe to do so.”
>
> ‘OUTRAGEOUS’
>
> In October, the Red Cross said it was drastically reducing operations in Afghanistan following attacks that killed seven of its staff.
>
> “An attack against an organization that helps children is outrageous. Civilians and aid workers must not be targeted,” said Monica Zanarelli, head of the Red Cross delegation in Afghanistan, in response to Wednesday’s attack.
>
> Slideshow (14 Images)
> “Increased violence has made operating in Afghanistan increasingly difficult for many organizations.”
>
> Plumes of black smoke rose from the area as the surviving gunmen battled special forces.
>
> A police officer said at least one attacker had blown himself up in the initial suicide assault and another had been killed. Schoolchildren and residents fled as Afghan special forces arrived to engage the militants.
>
> By late afternoon, Khogyani said one attacker was still holding out, battling the security forces, and 45 people had taken refuge in a fortified “safe room” in the compound.
>
> Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province on the porous border with Pakistan. The province has become a stronghold of Islamic State, which has grown into one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous militant groups since it appeared around the beginning of 2015.
>
> Backed by intensive U.S. air strikes, Afghan forces have claimed growing success against the Taliban and other militant groups, including Islamic State, but militant attacks on civilian targets have continued, causing heavy casualties.
>
> The attack in Jalalabad came just days after Taliban militants attacked the Hotel Intercontinental in the capital, Kabul, killing at least 20 people, including 13 foreigners.
>
> Additional reporting by Eric Knecht in CAIRO; Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Nick Macfie
> Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. <http://thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/trust-principles.html>
> SPONSORED
>
>
>
> #WORLD NEWS <https://www.reuters.com/news/archive/worldNews>JANUARY 23, 2018 / 11:17 AM / UPDATED 19 HOURS AGO
> U.S. takes aim at Russia after suspected Syrian government gas attack
> John Irish <https://www.reuters.com/journalists/john-irish>
> <https://www.twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Freut.rs%2F2n6l3ma&text=U.S.%20takes%20aim%20at%20Russia%20after%20suspected%20Syrian%20government%20gas%20attack> <https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Freut.rs%2F2n6l3ma&t=U.S.%20takes%20aim%20at%20Russia%20after%20suspected%20Syrian%20government%20gas%20attack>
> PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday the Syrian government may still be using chemical weapons against its own people following a suspected chlorine attack in a rebel enclave, and he said Russia bore ultimate responsibility.
>
>
> Rescue workers in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, near to Damascus, accused government forces of using chlorine gas during bombardment of the area on Monday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 13 people had suffered suffocation in the incident.
>
> President Bashar al-Assad’s government denies using chemical weapons, which it agreed to destroy in 2013 under an agreement brokered by Russia and the United States.
>
> “Only yesterday more than 20 civilians, mostly children, were victims of an apparent chlorine gas attack,” Tillerson said after attending a conference on chemical weapons in Paris.
>
> “The recent attacks in Eastern Ghouta raise serious concerns that Bashar al-Assad may be continuing to use chemical weapons against his own people.”
>
> Eastern Ghouta is the last major rebel-held zone near Damascus and where at least 390,000 civilians have been besieged for four years.
>
> “Russia ultimately bears responsibility for the victims in Eastern Ghouta and countless other Syrians targeted with chemical weapons since Russia became involved in Syria,” said Tillerson.
>
> RUSSIA “BREACHED ITS COMMITMENTS”
>
> U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson attend a press conference with Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London, January 22, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville
> Russia is a close ally of Assad, providing direct military support in Syria against the various rebel groups trying to oust him and also diplomatic cover in the U.N. Security Council.
>
> Tillerson was speaking during a meeting hosted by France on an initiative to target those responsible for chemical attacks, largely in Syria, after an international investigation into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria ended in November after Russian opposition.
>
> A joint inquiry of the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) determined that the Syrian government used the nerve agent sarin in an April 4, 2017, attack and also used several times chlorine as a weapon.
>
> “Russia’s failure to resolve the chemical weapons issue in Syria calls into question its relevance to the resolution of the overall crisis,” Tillerson said, adding there was mounting evidence since April 2014 that Syria still had chemical weapons.
>
> “There is simply no denying that Russia, by shielding its Syrian ally, has breached its commitments to the United States as a framework guarantor,” he added.
>
> At the Paris meeting 24 countries agreed to work more closely on targeting those behind chemical weapons attacks and imposing necessary sanctions on them.
>
> As a first step, France on Tuesday imposed unilateral sanctions on 25 people and entities, including from China, Lebanon and France, and among them importers and distributors of metals, electronics and lighting systems. It said the companies were helping to supply Syria’s chemical weapons programme.
>
> “The current situation cannot continue,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. “The criminals who have used and designed these barbaric weapons must know that they will not go unpunished.”
>
> Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Gareth Jones
> Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. <http://thomsonreuters.com/en/about-us/trust-principles.html>
> SPONSORED
>
>
> Apps <https://www.reuters.com/tools/mobile>Newsletters <https://newslink.reuters.com/join/subscribe>Reuters Plus <https://plus.reuters.com/en.html?utm_source=reuterscom&utm_medium=sitefooter>Advertising Guidelines <https://www.reuters.com/advertising-guidelines>Cookies <https://info.evidon.com/pub_info/285>Terms of Use <https://www.reuters.com/terms-of-use>Privacy <https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/privacy-statement.html>
> <https://twitter.com/reuters> <https://www.facebook.com/Reuters> <https://www.youtube.com/user/ReutersVideo> <https://instagram.com/reuters/> <https://www.linkedin.com/company/10256858/> <https://www.reuters.com/tools/rss>
> All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list <https://www.reuters.com/info/disclaimer> of exchanges and delays.
> © 2018 Reuters. All Rights Reserved. <https://thomsonreuters.com/copyright/>
> DAVOS 2018German Chancellor Angela Merkel addresses the World Economic Forum <https://www.reuters.com/subjects/davos> <https://www.reuters.com/subjects/davos>