Red Cross Worker Shot Dead By Wheelchair-Bound Patient In Afghanistan

A wheelchair-bound patient shot and killed a Spanish physiotherapist working for the Red Cross in northern Afghanistan on September 11.

Lorena Enebral Perez was shot inside the aid group's rehabilitation center in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said in a statement.

It said she was taken to the NATO military base hospital at Camp Marmal, where she died of her wounds.

Perez, 38, treated disabled children and adults, some of them amputees, the ICRC said.

Monica Zanarelli, the ICRC's chief in Afghanistan, said that Perez was "the heart of our office in Mazar" and "a skilled and caring physiotherapist who assisted patients, especially children."

"Today, our hearts are broken," Zanarelli said.

Most ICRC programs in northern Afghanistan have been on hold since February, after six Afghan employees were ambushed and killed by gunmen in Jowzjan province.

A Spanish Red Cross employee was abducted in December while travelling between Mazar-e Sharif and the neighboring Kunduz province, a hotbed of Taliban activity.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP