It's been a difficult year for the humanitarian community in Afghanistan. Besides the fragmented conflict landscape in some parts of the country, there is growing insecurity and an increase in attacks on health facilities and humanitarian aid workers. All these pose serious security concerns and limit our access to people affected by conflict at a concerning rate.
While 2017 gave a reason to celebrate 30 years of continuous presence of the ICRC in Afghanistan, it was also a devastating year in which seven of our colleagues were killed and two were abducted while carrying out humanitarian work. For the first nine months of the year, we were forced to partially suspend our activities and, at a later stage, scale them down, particularly in the north of the country. However, despite all the challenges, the ICRC remained committed to the Afghan population in 2017, as it has been for the past 30 years.
Read our full facts and figures from January to December 2017 below.