Pakistan has closed down the offices of the international aid agency Save the Children, accusing the organization of involvement in “anti-Pakistan activities.”

Authorities sealed the office in the capital, Islamabad, on Thursday and gave staff members 15 days to leave the country, according to the Interior Ministry.

A Pakistan official said “We have been monitoring their calls and watching their offices and their activities are very suspicious.”  The official did not specify what activities were objectionable.

Save the Children, which has been in Pakistan for 35 years, said it has no expatriate staff in Islamabad. “We strongly object to this action and are raising our serious concerns at the highest levels,” a statement read.   

The charity’s expatriate staff was forced to leave a few years ago after a Pakistan intelligence report said the Save the Children organization had ties to Shakil Afridi, the Pakistani doctor allegedly recruited by the CIA to help find al-Qaida head Osama bin Laden. The organization has denied any links to the doctor.

Save the Children said “All our work is designed and delivered in close collaboration with the government ministries across the country and aims to strengthen public service delivery systems in health, nutrition, education and child welfare.”
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