CARE Remains on the Job Following Violence in Kabul, Afghanistan

An accident involving U.S. coalition forces set off riots in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Monday, May 29. Rioters entered the offices and compounds of several international organizations, causing significant damage. CARE's offices in Kabul were among those affected, along with buildings and vehicles of several other organizations and the UN.

• CARE has no reason to believe that our offices were specifically targeted. All evidence to date suggests that rioters were demonstrating their anger against the international community in general.
  
  
• CARE is taking the incident very seriously and our security team is currently assessing the situation.
  
  
• CARE will not be suspending our programs and operations at this time.

At this point it is still too early to speculate on the implications for the reconstruction and development effort in Afghanistan. We are assessing the damage and its implications for our work in the country.

CARE began working in Afghanistan in 1961 and is currently assisting approximately 500,000 people with projects that include improving basic education for girls, helping women start small businesses and connecting communities to clean water systems. CARE employs a team of over 900 Afghans and seven international staff members to tackle the underlying causes of poverty in Afghanistan.