Nepal bars its citizens from working in Afghanistan

The Nepalese government has made a decision to dispatch an aircraft to Afghanistan to bring home the remains of 12 Nepali nationals killed in the Kabul suicide bombing on Monday.

The government said that the safety of Nepalis working in danger zones was its “major concern” and it plans to repatriate the thousands of citizens already working in Afghanistan, although no time frame was given.

Earlier in 2004, the government had banned Nepalis from going to Iraq as migrant workers after 12 Nepalis were killed by an Islamic militant group.

Prime Minister KP Oli, Home Minister Shakti Basnet, Labour Minister Dipak Bohara and Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal Thapa were at the airport to pay their last respects.

The Nepal Airlines chartered flight that landed at Tribhuvan International Airport also brought back 24 Nepalese guards who worked with the ones killed in Afghanistan, officials at Foreign Ministry said.

Five other Nepalis who were injured in the attack were taken to New Delhi for treatment on Wednesday.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the terror attacks and extended his condolences to the families of the victims and to the Governments of Afghanistan and Nepal.

The Nepali security guards were not directly employed by the embassy but were hired by a British agency.

In Kabul, aheadof a suicide attack on Nepalese and Indian contractors, an IED detonated targeting a provincial council member. Four Nepali guards were killed in an attack on a United Nations compound in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif in 2011.