Red Cross offices in Baluchistan closed after threat call

All offices of the Red Cross were closed down Friday after a threat call in Balochistan, southwestern province of Pakistan, local sources said.

Some unknown persons earlier Friday called International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) office in Quetta, capital of the Balochistan province. The caller introduced him as a member of a banned militant organization and objected to the organization's discriminatory attitude with Baloch nationals, the private TV channel Express quoted ICRC staff as saying.

The caller threatened to attack the organization's offices with grenades and rockets.

After that ICRC decided to close down all of its offices throughout the province till any further announcement. The foreign staff were shifted to a five star hotel and security personals were deployed at all of the offices.

Before the threat call the ICRC also received a letter from the same organization in recent days threating to attack the offices and workers.

The caller used satellite telephone and his location could not be determined yet, police said, adding they are investigating into this incident.

The ICRC, in collaboration with different local NGOs, has been conducting relief work in earthquake and militancy affected areas in different parts of Pakistan for many years.

Source:Xinhua & Dawn

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