By IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh Monday appealed for the release of a social worker kidnapped in Afghanistan even as the Dhaka-based NGO BRAC said it may reconsider its mission in the restive country after the abduction of its third employee within a week.
“We fervently appeal to those who have abducted Nurul Islam to release him immediately. His mission in Afghanistan is purely humanitarian – he is there only to help his Afghan brethren,” Foreign Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury was quoted as saying by United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency.
Armed assailants Saturday abducted Islam, an employee of BRAC – earlier called Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee – that has an office in Kabul.
BRAC executive director Mahbub Hossain told media: “If the killing and abduction of our staff are politically motivated, (then) we have to rethink the operations in Afghanistan strategically.”
While two BRAC employees were abducted before, Abdul Alim was killed on Sep 12 by unidentified assailants.
BRAC has been in Afghanistan since 2002 and works on development projects, including building schools, roads and clinics. Its micro-finance programmes in Afghanistan work largely with poor and disadvantaged women.
Chowdhury also spoke to the Afghan Ambassador here, Ahmad Karim Nawabi, on the issue. The envoy assured him of the Afghan government’s “all-out cooperation” in obtaining Islam’s release.