Afghan rights body condemns attack on its worker in the east

Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Wednesday condemned this week's attack on the house of one of its local female staff members in eastern Afghanistan, vowing it would not dissuade them from continuing their work in the area. “The hand grenade attack which took place on Sunday night is against all the rules of Islam and humanity, but will not deter our activities in the area,” Ahmad Fahim Hakim, AIHRC's deputy chairman said in the Afghan capital Kabul, adding there had been no casualties during the attack. “This has been the third incident to take place over the past two months in which our local staff have been threatened in eastern Nangarhar province,” Hakim explained, maintaining that security officials had yet to take the necessary action against the criminals. “It was not due to a private feud, but it was an orchestrated attack,” he asserted. The AIHRC has since recalled the staff member in question to the capital for her safety until the matter is cleared up. Meanwhile, local security officials have launched an investigation into the incident. “Investigations had been ordered and the result will be announced within next two days,” Amir Khan Liwal, deputy police chief of eastern Nangarhar province, noted. On Monday in one of the deadliest attacks to date, nine people were killed, including one German soldier for the NATO-led peacekeeping force in the capital, leaving another 13 injured. The attacks were reportedly the first major assaults on foreign forces in Afghanistan this year. Two days after the coordinated suicide bombings, another three civilians were killed by a suicide car bomb in the southern city of Kandahar. According to media reports, there have been several suicide attacks in Afghanistan this year, including two in the capital, and more than 1,400 people have been killed in the escalating violence. The worst violence has been in the south and east of the country. The south is traditionally the stronghold of the hardline Taliban, who were toppled from power during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan following 11 September 2001.