In response to today’s attack on Save the Children’s offices in Jalalabad in Afghanistan, which has left several people dead and a number of others injured, Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, said:

“We stand in solidarity with our colleagues at Save the Children following this dreadful news, which comes after a wave of violence against civilians including the deadly assault at the Intercontinental Hotel.

“This is an organisation that has worked tirelessly in Afghanistan for more than four decades, delivering outstanding work during some of the country’s most turbulent periods.

“Bombing and shooting people who are working for no other reason than to help improve the lives of young Afghans is a cowardly and despicable act. Deliberately targeting civilians is a war crime.”