KOHAT, Dec 13: Independent medical humanitarian association Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders-MSF) has appealed to all militant, religious and political groups to honour the sanctity of an agreement to keep the district headquarters hospital Hangu as a weapon-free zone.

In a press statement issued here on Monday the MSF complained that following the explosion in Hangu on Dec 10 some armed persons entered the hospital and harassed the medical staff and patients.

An MSF spokesperson reminded that under the agreement signed between MSF and district and provincial authorities, the DHQ hospital had been declared a weapon-free zone. But the agreement was violated when armed men took control of the hospital and army had to be called in to expel them after the Dec 10 suicide blast.

It is highly critical that the DHQ hospital remains a safe environment for all patients, regardless of their political and religious affiliation who should have easy access to medical treatment they need, the statement said.— Correspondent