The beheaded body of a British Red Cross doctor was found by the roadside in southwestern Pakistan Sunday, nearly four months after he was kidnapped by suspected militants.
Police in Quetta, the capital of insurgency-hit Baluchistan province, said a note was found with the body during which the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the doctor were killed because a ransom had not been paid.
Red Cross officials said 60-year-old Khalil Rasjed Dale were managing a health program in Quetta, located near the Afghan border, for just about a year when he was kidnapped on January 5. The Red Cross operates clinics within the city that treat people wounded within the war in Afghanistan.
Dale had worked for the Red Cross for years, accomplishing assignments in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq before coming to Pakistan.
The director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Yves Daccord, condemned the "barbaric act."Â He said "every body on the ICRC and on the British Red Cross share the grief and outrage of Khalil's friends and family."
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said this was a "senseless and vicious act, targeting someone whose role was to assist the folks of Pakistan." He said London have been working tirelessly to secure Dale's release.
The Pakistani government also condemned the killing and vowed to "bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice."
Also Sunday, U.S. drone strikes killed four suspected militants and wounded at the least two others within the restive North Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
The strike came as Washington is making an attempt to rebuild diplomatic relations with Islamabad, badly frayed after a cross-border coalition attack mistakenly killed 24 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border last November. Pakistan subsequently shut down the floor supply path to international troops in Afghanistan and demanded an end to U.S. drone strikes, arguing that they're counter-productive because they kill civilians, exacerbate anti-U.S. sentiment and violate sovereignty. Â
Washington says the strikes are crucial to defeating al-Qaida and the Taliban.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
From WhatNewsToday.net
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