By KUNA
Oslo : A spokesman of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday criticized the Norwegian Ministry of Defense for providing the country’s medical team in Afghanistan with assault weapons.
The ICRC spokesman said the ministry had thus violated the relevant international humanitarian conventions.
The ministry provided the Norwegian medical team in the war-torn country with heavy assault weapons, a matter that raised doubts over the neutrality of the Norwegian team there, he said.
A Norwegian military spokesman rejected the ICRC charges, saying that the weapons were meant for “pure” defensive purposes and could never be used in assaults.
He also emphasized Norway’s commitment to all the relevant international conventions and laws, and referred to the ICRC charges as being unrealistic