ICRC to continue operations despite attack

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday confirmed that the agency would continue its work in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP), having briefly suspending operations after an attack on its office on Saturday.

"The police are investigating. We do not have any information as to who carried out the blast and what the motive behind it was," Raza Hamadani, an ICRC spokesman said in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

An explosive device was reportedly thrown into the ICRC compound in Peshawar, NWFP's provincial capital, on Saturday. Four vehicles were damaged in the incident, but no personnel were injured as the office was closed.

The attack was the second on a foreign aid agency working in NWFP in less than a week.

The police are investigating. We do not have any information as to who carried out the blast and what the motive behind it was.

On 5 February, a grenade was thrown at a compound of the US-based charity Save the Children in NWFP's quake-affected Batagram district, injuring two Pakistani employees.

"We are not afraid. We are carrying out our operations as normal. In terms of what happened last Monday, the police are following up the case, but so far no one has claimed responsibility," a staff member, who wished to remain anonymous, told IRIN.

ICRC mainly runs a protection and messaging service for Pakistani detainees imprisoned inside Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.

NWFP was badly affected by the October 2005 earthquake. Hundreds of towns and villages, mainly around Muzaffarabad in Kashmir and Manshera, Balakot and Batagram, were completely wiped out. The province also has a high population of Afghan refugees and they also rely on aid agencies.

Of course, there is concern among all organisations. But there is no scaling-down of operations anywhere in NWFP province.

Other foreign aid agencies remain similarly undeterred in carrying out their work, despite an NGO security coordination group meeting on Monday in Peshawar calling for greater caution, but with no travel restrictions.

"Of course, there is a concern among all organisations. But there is no scaling-down of operations anywhere in NWFP province," Samia Ali, a spokeswoman for the International Rescue Committee said in Islamabad. "The only advice is to be extra careful and vigilant.”

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