On 24 January 2018, militants affiliated with

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the mai ...

launched a bomb and gun attack on a

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

office in

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

, a city in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, killing six people and injuring 27.

Background

is a British

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGO) that provides aid to children in developing countries through healthcare, education, and economic initiatives. The group has been active in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

since 1976 and as of 2018 has programs active in sixteen of the country's thirty-four provinces. Charity groups like Save the Children are frequent targets for militant groups in Afghanistan. For example, in May 2017 a Swedish NGO in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

, Operation Mercy, was the target of an attack that left two people dead, and in 2010, ten members of an international eye care team were shot and killed by

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

militants in the country's

Nuristan Province Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Dari: ; Kamkata-vari: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, wi ...

Attack

Shortly after 9:00am local time on 24 January 2018, a suicide bomber in a car detonated his explosives at the front of the

compound. The blast was followed up by at least four armed militants attempting to storm the building, according to witnesses some of the attackers were wearing Afghan police uniforms. A firefight broke out between Afghan security forces and the attackers that lasted more than eight hours. 45 people in the compound had to be rescued by commandos. All the attackers were killed and six civilians, including three Save the Children employees, were killed with at least 27 people, including three Afghan troops, injured.

Responsibility

The

denied responsibility for the attack.

ISIL An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...

claimed responsibility, saying it was targeting Western institutions. In the aftermath of the attack,

suspended its operations in Afghanistan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Save The Children Jalalabad attack 2018 murders in Afghanistan Mass murder in 2018 Suicide bombings in 2018 21st-century mass murder in Afghanistan Attacks on buildings and structures in Afghanistan ISIL terrorist incidents in Afghanistan Islamic terrorist incidents in 2018 January 2018 crimes in Asia Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2018 Jalalabad

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Attacks in Afghanistan in 2018