To The Center

A British aid worker, who had been held captive since January, was found beheaded outside Quetta in the southern Baluchistan province of Pakistan on Sunday. Attached to his body was a note saying he was killed because no ransom had been paid.

Khalil Rasjed Dale, a 60-year-old Muslim convert, had been managing a health program for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Quetta when he was captured four months ago while driving on a street close to the office. A doctor’s examination showed Dale’s throat had been slit.

Although the identities of his kidnappers are unknown, the region is known to be home to separatist and Islamic militants who have kidnapped for money before, The Associated Press reported. However, these groups often capture wealthy Pakistanis rather than foreigners.

“All of us at the ICRC and at the British Red Cross share the grief and outrage of Khalil’s family and friends,” CRC director general, Yves Daccord said.

The Guardian stated that The ICRC tries to remain neutral and meet with all groups in some of the most conflict stricken areas in the world. Its staff members are highly vulnerable to criminal acts against them.

Militant groups and the Taliban remain a problem in Quetta, which is located only about a two hour drive from the Afghanistan border, where the U.S forces are currently fighting with the Taliban. The Red Cross has been operating clinics in the city to treat those who have been wounded in the war in Afghanistan, including Taliban insurgents, the Associated Press reported.

Khalil had carried our numerous assignments for the Red Cross over the years in Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.