US Troop Pullout From Afghanistan Likely To Leave MSF Activities Unaffected - NGO

The potential withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan will not affect the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders), as the international humanitarian organization maintains dialogue with all forces on the ground, Christopher Stokes, the MSF special representative in Afghanistan, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th April, 2019) The potential withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan will not affect the activities of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF, or Doctors Without Borders), as the international humanitarian organization maintains dialogue with all forces on the ground, Christopher Stokes, the MSF special representative in Afghanistan, told Sputnik.

"In a way, the way we have worked in Afghanistan, like we have worked in every context if one of the actors withdraws, normally we hope to continue working because we have dialogue with everybody," Stokes said.

He suggested that the transparency of MSF's work would help ensure security of its faculties despite the possible US withdrawal.

"If the Americans leave, the Taliban will still be there so there will also be an Afghan government. We believe that our work over the last 20 years and our transparency over what we're doing, will help with our security in the future," Stokes said.

Over the last few months, the Taliban movement and US officials have been involved in regular talks in the Qatari capital of Doha. The sides are negotiating a framework for a future agreement under which the radical movement is ready to guarantee it will not harbor al-Qaeda terrorists (banned in Russia) in Afghanistan in return for ending US military presence in the country. No final agreement has been reached so far.