Pakistan on Wednesday told medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) to stop work and leave its impoverished tribal areas that border Afghanistan, the group said, ending its 14-year stay in the volatile region.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) works out of two health facilities in the Kurram district of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) region, which has been plagued by militancy over the past decade and was the location of many US drone strikes targeting commanders from al-Qaeda and other militant groups.
Although security has improved in the region in recent years, sectarian militant attacks, primarily targeting Shiite Muslims, still occur. Twin blasts in the Kurram’s most populous town, Parachinar, killed more than 75 people in June.
Local officials say MSF provides essential healthcare facilities in an area with some of Pakistan’s poorest healthcare and lowest literacy rates.
“We have been asked to close our medical activities in Kurram Agency,” MSF said in a statement to the media issued late on Wednesday, adding that Pakistan had refused to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the charity to work in the tribal areas.
“MSF is saddened by the decision from the authorities responsible for NGOs working in Kurram Agency. The closure brings to an end 14 years of MSF working with the FATA Health Services in Kurram Agency,” MSF country representative Catherine Moody said in the statement.
Foreign nationals and organizations working in Pakistan require NOCs to operate in certain areas. Pakistani NGOs and journalists also face restrictions when working in the tribal areas.
“MSF provides diagnosis and treatment facilities to the community for Leishmaniasis, immunization for children, as well ... responding to emergencies, disease outbreaks and mass casualties,” it said.
“We will, as much as possible continue to provide obstetric and newborn services to the women of FATA through the MSF women’s hospital located in Peshawar,” the statement said.
The region’s health directorate did not respond to requests for comment, but Mohammad Ishaq, a doctor who works there, said MSF was asked to leave because they did not have a valid NOC.
“I personally think MSF was doing a great job for the patients in FATA,” he said, adding that he did not know why its license to work there was revoked.
“We have been working in FATA since 2004. We were never denied an NOC in the past. This will affect many patients in the area,” one MSF employee said, asking not to be identified.
The organization had 70 staff members working at the two health facilities, he said.
The official who notified MSF that their operations would need to be shut down added: “I did what I was directed to by my bosses in Peshawar, but really don’t know the reason behind MSF being stopped.”
Additional reporting by AFP
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
DITCH TACTICS: Kenyan officers were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch suspected to have been deliberately dug by Haitian gang members A Kenyan policeman deployed in Haiti has gone missing after violent gangs attacked a group of officers on a rescue mission, a UN-backed multinational security mission said in a statement yesterday. The Kenyan officers on Tuesday were on their way to rescue Haitian police stuck in a ditch “suspected to have been deliberately dug by gangs,” the statement said, adding that “specialized teams have been deployed” to search for the missing officer. Local media outlets in Haiti reported that the officer had been killed and videos of a lifeless man clothed in Kenyan uniform were shared on social media. Gang violence has left
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
Japan unveiled a plan on Thursday to evacuate around 120,000 residents and tourists from its southern islets near Taiwan within six days in the event of an “emergency”. The plan was put together as “the security situation surrounding our nation grows severe” and with an “emergency” in mind, the government’s crisis management office said. Exactly what that emergency might be was left unspecified in the plan but it envisages the evacuation of around 120,000 people in five Japanese islets close to Taiwan. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has stepped up military pressure in recent years, including
RSS