Press Release - Statement by NSC Spokesperson Ned Price on the Passing of Abdul Sattar Edhi

Abdul Sattar Edhi was one of the world's great humanitarians. From the medical clinic he established in Karachi, Pakistan almost 60 years ago, he and his wife Bilquis created a vast network of social services for Pakistan's most vulnerable, encompassing nursing homes, orphanages, soup kitchens, maternity wards, women's shelters, rehabilitation centers, and the largest voluntary ambulance fleet in the world. Even as his foundation's operations expanded beyond Pakistan's borders, Edhi still often drove his own ambulance, personally caring for the injured.

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Edhi led a life dedicated to serving others, and his determination to provide equal treatment for all--regardless of nationality, ethnicity, religion, or class--stands as a sharp rebuke to those who would use fear and violence to create divisions. We offer our condolences to Bilquis and their four children, the millions of people around the world whose lives he touched, and to the people of Pakistan, who have lost a heroic servant of humanity.