Afghanistan: ambulance used in attack on police training compound
| Publisher | International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) |
| Publication Date | 7 April 2011 |
| Cite as | International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Afghanistan: ambulance used in attack on police training compound, 7 April 2011, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4d9e9a1a2.html [accessed 28 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) strongly condemns the use of an ambulance intended for transporting wounded and sick persons in a suicide attack that took place today at an Afghan National Police regional training centre on the outskirts of Kandahar city, southern Afghanistan. Several members of the security forces were killed and others injured during the assault.
"Using an ambulance for the purpose of deceiving the adversary in carrying out an attack constitutes perfidy. This is strictly prohibited by international humanitarian law and is totally unacceptable," said Jacques de Maio, the ICRC's head of operations for South Asia.
By violating the neutrality of health care services, such acts of deception endanger medical personnel engaged in caring for the injured and sick in hospitals, clinics and rural health posts. "They undermine the delivery of and access to health care, already precarious for ordinary Afghans in many parts of the country as a result of the conflict," added Mr de Maio.
