Red Cross Doctor Beheaded In Pakistan

Khalil Rasjed Dale, a 60-year-old British doctor working with the Red Cross, was kidnapped by suspected militants earlier this year. His beheaded body was found this weekend in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta

ICRC Director-General Yves Daccord said in a statement.

“The ICRC condemns in the strongest possible terms this barbaric act. All of us at the ICRC and at the British Red Cross share the grief and outrage of Khalil’s family and friends. We are devastated… Khalil was a trusted and very experienced Red Cross staff member who significantly contributed to the humanitarian cause.”

CNEWS reports that Dale was near a bypass road in Baluchistan province. His name was written on a plastic bag that was wrapped around his body.

Safdar Hussain, a doctor who examined the body, said:

“A sharp knife was used to sever his head from the body. He was killed about 12 hours ago.”

Dale was the third Westerner to be beheaded in Pakistan in the last decade. Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was killed in 2002 and Piotr Stanczak, a Polish geologist, was murdered in 2009.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

“This was a senseless and cruel act, targeting someone whose role was to help the people of Pakistan, and causing immeasurable pain to those who knew Mr Dale.”

The Pakistani foreign office said that it was determined to find Dale’s killers. The foreign office said:

“The Government of Pakistan condemns this barbaric act in the strongest terms and is determined to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice. Pakistan is committed to combat terrorism and the death of Mr. Dale has only strengthened our resolve to eliminate this scourge.”

Dale had worked for the Red Cross in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. He had been managing a health program for about a year before he was abducted in January.