KABUL, Afghanistan — The departing head of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Afghanistan warned Monday that the country’s civilians live in more peril today than when he started his job seven years earlier.
“Since I arrived here in 2005, local armed groups have proliferated, civilians have been caught between not just one but multiple front lines, and it has become increasingly difficult for ordinary Afghans to obtain health care," Reto Stocker said in a statement released by the organization. “Hardship arising from the economic situation, or from severe weather or natural disaster, has become more widespread, and hope for the future has been steadily declining."
Stocker painted an alarming portrait of Afghanistan’s future, in sharp contrast to the usually more upbeat pronouncements of U.S. officials that the country is edging toward stability after the massive troop surge early in the Obama administration.
