Save the Children officials told reporters at its headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut, that it has suspended programs in Afghanistan indefinitely after three aid workers died in an attack on its offices in Jalalabad this morning.
Carlos Carrazana, Save the Children’s chief operating officer, said four more staff are receiving treatment for injuries.
“These are all Afghan nationals who’ve dedicated their lives to supporting children, making sure that they have a healthy start, that they learn and they are protected from harm. Save the Children condemns this attack. Aid workers should never, never be a target.”
Carrazana says no children were harmed in the attack because the office served as an administrative center. Workers shared the building with other British and Swedish NGOs.
The so-called Islamic State has claimed credit for the car bombing and gun battle that followed. Carrazana says he doesn’t know if his charity was targeted.
Save the Children has worked in Afghanistan since the 1970s. It reaches more than 1 million children a year.