PESHAWAR, May 10: Reacting to the killing of its worker in Balochistan, the International Committee of the Red Cross has suspended its activities in Peshawar and Karachi indefinitely, shifting expatriate staff to Islamabad.

“The recent attack against the ICRC compels us to completely reassess the balance between the humanitarian impact of our activities and the risks faced by our staff,” Jacques de Maio, the committee’s head of operations for South Asia, said in a statement on Thursday.

It said that following the brutal murder of Khalil Rasjed Dale, health-programme manager working for the ICRC in Quetta, the organisation was reviewing its presence and activities in Pakistan.

Dr Dale was kidnapped on Jan 5 and his body was recovered on April 29. The ICRC has already frozen activities in Balochistan.

Sources said the ICRC evacuated its 50 expatriate workers from Karachi and Peshawar and shifted them to Islamabad, while 500 plus local workers were sent home but being paid salary. They said more than 450 workers were attached with the Peshawar office.

In addition, the ICRC is closing a 120-bed surgical hospital for war-wounded people in Peshawar, while its warehouse in the city which stores relief goods for Afghanistan was also closed.

An official said the admission of wounded persons to the hospital had already been stopped and 50 per cent beds were empty.

He said the patients in the hospital might be sent to government hospitals.

However, assistance for the paraplegic centre in Hayatabad, Peshawar, would continue. The centre is providing artificial orthopaedic devices to disabled people, including war victims.

The ICRC, which has been operating in Pakistan since 1980, assists people affected by conflicts and natural calamities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It has launched rehabilitation projects in education, health and sanitation. Thursday’s decision is likely to affect conflict-affected people in the region.

Paul Castella, the head of the ICRC delegation in Pakistan, said in the statement that they were painfully aware that these measures were having a severe and far-reaching impact on wounded, sick, physically disabled and other vulnerable people.

In the coming weeks, the ICRC would announce a decision on its future presence and set-up in Pakistan, the statement said.

Relations between the ICRC and security apparatus dealing with militancy remained under strain since security forces started operations against militants in the region.

The committee has been asking the government to fulfil its obligations under the Geneva Convention, including implementation of International Humanitarian Law.

On the other hand, security apparatus is reluctant to provide access to the ICRC workers to various detention centres and conflict-hit areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata.

The sources said that security agencies suspected involvement of some ICRC workers in unlawful activities, including spying.

They said that movement of the ICRC workers was being strictly monitored.

The ICRC had closed field offices in Hangu, Swat, Lower Dir (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Jacobabad (Sindh) and Lahore (Punjab) in January this year because it was facing problems in access to victims in militancy-hit areas.

Reuters adds: The ICRC’s activities in Balochistan had been limited since Mr Dale’s kidnapping, with only two staff deployed there.

“The suspension of our activities now extends to the office in Peshawar, our largest in Pakistan, and activities in Karachi,” ICRC spokesman Christian Cardon told Reuters in Geneva.

“The decision will be taken following a thorough review in consultation with relevant stakeholders, including national authorities at different levels in the country,” he said.