The Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) aid group announced yesterday it was pulling out of Afghanistan after more than 20 years due to security concerns and the lack of progress in an investigation into the killing of five staff.
A statement from the group, called Doctors Without Borders in English, also complained of the "co-optation" of assistance work by the US-led military, a reference to concerns that American forces blur the boundary between military and humanitarian work.
"Of course, it's the killings of our colleagues. But linked to that, we're very unhappy with the investigation," said an MSF spokeswoman in Kabul.
MSF has been in Afghanistan since 1980, shortly after the Soviet invasion, and is one of the few organizations to remain in the country through the occupation, civil war in the 1990s and the rule of the Taliban militia that was toppled in late 2001.
The decision by the Nobel prize-winning relief agency is a blow to Afghan authorities, who rely heavily on the UN and other aid groups for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction work.
The withdrawal is another sign of deteriorating security despite the presence of around 20,000 US-led troops and 6,500 NATO-led peacekeepers. Both forces are struggling to bring stability before a landmark presidential election in October.
Three foreign MSF staff, a woman from Belgium and men from Norway and Holland, were killed last month along with two Afghans workers on a remote road in the northwestern province of Badghis, which until then had been considered a relatively safe area.
Most militant attacks have taken place in the south and east, the Taliban's traditional heartlands.
MSF accused the US military of "the co-optation of humanitarian aid ... for political and military motives."
The statement was referring to around a dozen US-run Provincial Reconstruction Teams deployed across the country to carry out civilian and military operations -- ranging from building wells to gathering intelligence.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
RSS