(July 17, 2009) United Nations Secretary-General General Ban Ki-moon has condemned
the murder of a staff member of the United Nations refugee agency at a refugee camp
in Pakistan on Thursday. Zil-e-Usman, a 59-year-old Pakistani who worked since 1984
for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), was attacked outside the agency's
field office in Kutch Gari on the outskirts of Peshawar, the capital of North West
Frontier Province. Four to five gunmen reportedly opened fire as he was walking
back from the camp administrative office to his car during a routine visit to the
site. Another staff member was injured in the incident but is in stable condition
in a nearby hospital, according to UNHCR. A guard working with a government-funded
agency known as the Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees was also killed. “The Secretary-General
strongly condemns this brutal attack on humanitarian personnel who are working for
the well-being of the Pakistani people,” Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack, noting
it was the third killing of a UNHCR staff member in Pakistan in the past six months.