International Activity Report 2004
In Memoriam

On 2 June 2004, five MSF colleagues were brutally murdered on a lonely strip of road between Khairkhana and Qala-i-Naw in Afghanistan's Badghis province.

In this single violent episode, MSF lost five volunteers and staff members:

project coordinator Hélène de Beir
logistician Pim Kwint
physician Egil Tynaes
translator Fasil Ahmad
and Besmillah, the team's driver.

We mourn the deaths of all of these individuals committed to carrying out MSF's work and our deepest sympathies and support go to their families.

The murder of five of our colleagues is an unprecedented tragedy for MSF. We have never faced a loss of such magnitude in the more than three decades we have spent working in some of the world's worst conflicts.

MSF seeks to assist civilians affected by conflict or struck by disaster. MSF honors the separation of aid from political motives as a founding principle. The sole aim of the organization is to provide assistance to populations in distress in the name of medical ethics and based only on their needs.

Despite the tragic loss of these dedicated staff members, MSF will continue to provide help for those most in need in countries around the world. It will also continue to speak out strongly on the plight of populations and against the violence now being targeted at humanitarian aid workers.