Afghan girl, 6, loses parents to bombings three years apart
Everyone is thinking of our colleagues working on behalf of the Afghan people after this attack WILLIAM SWING International Organisation for Migration
Tuesday’s attack by ISIS in Jalalabad killed a young Afghan UN worker who lost her husband in an earlier bombing, leaving their daughter, 6, an orphan.
The International Organisation for Migration confirmed the death of the woman among at least 13 civilians killed in the raid.
“This young woman, who was 22, lost her husband in a bombing in Kabul three years ago. She leaves behind a sixyear-old daughter,” the organisation said.
The agency said it would not release further details, to protect the family’s safety. Another of its employees was among at least 20 people injured when militants set off several explosions before storming the refugees and repatriations department in the capital of Nangarhar Province.
“It is a loss for IOM, our partners and Afghanistan,” organisation director general William Swing said. “Everyone in IOM is thinking of our colleagues working in difficult conditions across the country on behalf of the Afghan people after this senseless attack.”
The International Rescue Committee also lost an employee. Fareedullah Noori, a water, sanitation and hygiene engineer, had worked for the organisation since 2010.
“As one of our lead responders to humanitarian needs in Nangarhar, Fareed was representing IRC at an emergency meeting at the time of the attack,” it said. “He was killed doing the work of helping others, which he was so committed to.”
Attacks by ISIS in recent years have added to the civilian death toll from the insurgency by the Afghan Taliban, which was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2001.
The UN last month said the number of Afghan civilians killed in the first half of this year was the highest since 2009.
Foreign civilians have also been targeted, with three employees of a catering company kidnapped by gunmen and killed in Kabul on Thursday.
Afghan officials said the victims were a Malaysian 64, an Indian, 39, and a Macedonian, 37. The three men worked as cooks for food and catering services company Sodexo at Kabul airport.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.