Medical NGO stops work in Swat after death of 2 workers Muhammad Tahir Khan

ISLAMABAD: International NGO Médecins Sans Frontières has 'completely suspended' its activities in the insurgency-hit Swat after two of its staff were killed in fighting in the restive valley. The two MSF staff members - Riaz Ahmad, 24, and Nasar Ali, 27 -were killed on Sunday while trying to collect people injured in fighting in Charbagh sub-district, considered a stronghold of the local Taliban. A third volunteer worker for MSF was injured in the incident, the organisation said in a statement on its website. Two MSF ambulances came under fire in Charbagh despite being clearly identified as medical vehicles, the statement said. Following of the death of the two men, "MSF has completely suspended its medical activities in Swat, including all life-saving operations", the statement said. "We are profoundly shocked and saddened by the death of our colleagues," said Fasil Tezera, the head of MSF's mission in Pakistan. "In any conflict situation, including Swat, it is absolutely imperative that all parties resolutely respect humanitarian medical assistance, medical personnel and medical facilities," he said. "The day, our colleagues Nasar and Riaz were killed, was their day off, but they had come to work anyway because they'd heard there were large numbers of people wounded in fighting who needed urgent medical assistance," Tezera said. MSF said intense fighting continues to rage in Swat, trapping the entire civilian population. "The extreme violence has displaced approximately 25,000 people in the area. MSF is unable to provide any assistance," the statement said. The NGO has been working in Pakistan since 1988. In recent years, its medical teams have focused on helping victims of the violent armed conflict in regions along the northwestern border of the country. MSF ran three ambulances in Swat and its staff transported over 350 people for emergency treatment to hospitals in the last quarter of 2008. "During the same period, emergency rooms supported by MSF assisted more than 400 war-wounded," the statement said.

source: http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ts&nid=3836&ad=05-02-2009