OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nairobi | Tuesday
SOME 20 agencies working in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) began a three-day suspension of activities on Monday to protest last week’s brutal killing of six colleagues from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
”To express our solidarity with the ICRC, our outrage and our need to mourn, we will suspend all operations throughout eastern DRC for three days starting Monday. During that period only direct lifesaving activities and emergencies will be responded to,” the agencies said in a statement.
The statement recalled that on Thursday ”two ICRC cars were ambushed on the road between Fataki and Djugu in Ituri, eastern DRC. Six of our colleagues were dragged from their cars and brutally murdered.”
”The humanitarian community is saddened and distressed by this brutal act of violence… We cannot interpret this killing as anything other than a direct attack on the humanitarian community in DRC. We are deeply concerned with the consequences of this act: deprivation of humanitarian support to communities in need,” the statement said.
It was signed by the following agencies: Action Contre La Faim, AirServ International, ASRAMES, Aviation Sans Frontieres (Belgium), CEMUBAC, Christian Aid, CONCERN, DOCS, Food for the Hungry International, Fondation Damien, Handicap International (Belgium), International Rescue Committee, Johanniter, Medicos En Catastrofe, Merlin, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Belgium, Spain, Holland and Switzerland), Nouva Frontiera, Oxfam-GB, Save the Children Fund, Solidarites and World Vision. – AFP
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