Report: Pakistan aid staff leave over CIA action

Before the raid to get Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, the CIA set up a fake vaccination program in the town where he was believed to be hiding, attempting to get the DNA of his family. Dr. Shakil Afridi, who ran the phony vaccination program, is being detained by Pakistani authorities, but has not been charged with any crime.

The blowback from the CIA operation extended beyond the Pakistani nationals left behind, however. Save the Children was forced to evacuate eight staff members after news of the fake vaccination program raised the level of danger for aid agencies in general there, The Guardian reports.

In addition to the eight evacuated staff, two senior staff members were moved to five-star hotels in Islamabad to help their security situation.

The Guardian writes: "Western and Pakistani officials say there were fears that Save the Children staff could be picked up by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) over alleged links to Dr Shakil Afridi. Save the Children vehemently denies any links to the CIA scheme...and said it was the victim of a broader crackdown on aid agencies in Pakistan caused by CIA tactics."

While there may have been no direct link between Save the Children and the CIA scheme, Afridi did participate in two training courses with the aid agency in 2008 and 2010, The Guardian reports.

According to its website, Save the Children has worked continuously in Pakistan since 1979.