Taliban withdraws battlefield protection to Red Cross workers

THE Taliban has said it will no longer protect Red Cross workers on the battlefields of Afghanistan, after it decried the aid group for allegedly ignoring the plight of its prisoners held in a Kabul jail.

The insurgent movement criticised the conduct of the humanitarian charity and said it would not guarantee its property, or the lives of its staff.

The denunciation by the rebel militia appeared to jeopardise the work of an aid group that has provided relief to millions of Afghans in the past three decades and came as health workers are increasingly being targeted by warring factions.

At least 48 young Afghans were also killed yesterday when a suicide bomber detonated in a classroom where highschool students were studying for university entrance exams in a Shia neighbourhood of Kabul.

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) operations have already been significantly scaled back in the country after seven staff were killed last year.

More than 1,000 Red Cross staff still work in the country.

The group runs medical and rehabilitation centres for the wounded and has cultivated a reputation for impartiality to gain access to all sides of the war. It makes prison visits to ensure detainees are being treated well and repatriates bodies to all factions after clashes. In 2010 it was disclosed the group had also given first-aid training to Taliban fighters.

But a statement from the Taliban blamed the organisation for failing to ensure decent conditions for insurgent prisoners in the capital’s Pul-e-charkhi prison.

It alleged that the prisoners were

‘The International Red Cross has not made any arrangements to treat prisoners in Kabul jail’

held in dire circumstances, sometimes without medical treatment, and hundreds had gone on hunger strike to demand better conditions.

The statement said: “The International Red Cross however has not made any arrangements to treat the prisoners or demand the prison officials provide proper medical care for the patients.

“Therefore [The Taliban] announces the withdrawal of the security commitment that it had given to the International Red Cross for their activities in Afghanistan.”

It said that it would no longer “guarantee the protection of their lives and property until they come to an agreement with [the Taliban] to correct their actions”.

A spokesman for the Red Cross in Afghanistan declined to comment.

Doctors, nurses and hospitals are under increasing attack in Afghanistan, health groups have warned, making it one of the most dangerous countries in the world for medical workers.