UN suspends food aid in Pak following suicide attack till situation stabilizes

PESHAWAR - The World Food Program (WFP), the food aid branch of the United Nations, has temporarily shut down operations in the northwest region of Pakistan following a suicide bombing that killed 46 people in one of its depots in Bajaur.

“Our staff will resume its work as soon as the situation normalizes,” the Wall Street Journal quoted Amjad Jamal, a spokesman for the WFP, as saying.

It was not immediately clear how long the food distribution points would be closed.

The WFP feeds thousands of people in Bajaur, who have been displaced since early 2009 by fighting between the Pakistan military and insurgents.

Earlier, on Saturday, a female bomber had blown herself up on a large crowd receiving food aid at a distribution centre of the WFP in the main town of Khar, killing 46 people and wounding 80 others.

The Pakistan Taliban has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, Ishrat Rizvi, a spokeswoman for the United Nations in Islamabad, said that no WFP personnel were hurt in the bombing.

“We condemn this barbaric act in strongest possible words. The WFP has been working to feed the poor and hungry displaced persons who were gathered at the food distribution center,” Rizvi said. (ANI)