Commissioner Patten's responds to attack on aid workers in Afghanistan

An aid worker was killed and two injured in a suicide attack near the German ISAF military hospital on the outskirts of Kabul this week. The aid workers, from the French media NGO, AINA, were waiting for a delivery of medicine for one of their staff members when a lone assailant approached the entrance to the hospital compound and threw two hand grenades at the three aid workers. The assailant was killed in the attack when a grenade attached to his belt exploded.

The Afghan aid worker, Habibdullah, and the French journalist, Eric Coorevits, received serious shrapnel wounds. Habidullah died of his wounds yesterday evening. Eric Coorevits, who has extensive shrapnel leg wounds, and a third AINA staff member, Elsa Leroy, who was released from the hospital with minor wounds, are being evacuated to France.The European Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten said,

"We wish to send our sincere condolences to Habibullah's family and the Afghan community at AINA. We also send our good wishes for recovery to Eric Coorevits and Elsa Leroy. We at the Commission have been proud to have aided the work they have done and will continue, alongside a large group of international organisations, to support AINA's impressive work in fostering a free and open press in Afghanistan"

Chargé d'Affaires, Herve Blin from the European Commission Delegation to Afghanistan, added, "We have worked closely with the AINA staff since they arrived last spring. It is saddening that this organisation, which has shown a singular ability to establish a deep felt engagement with the Afghan community, should be a victim of violence."

AINA, an NGO which works in a wide range of media activities in Afghanistan, is funded to a large extent by the European Commission. AINA has a large number of professional international volunteer staff who work closely with the Afghan independent media in Afghanistan. The AINA compound in Kabul has become a meeting place for the international and local media communities and the work of the centre has attracted wide international attention.

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