USAID employees sent on leave as part of Trump's purge

Iraqi men unload humanitarian aid supplies provided by the US development agency USAID to displaced Iraqis who have fled clashes between Islamic State group jihadists and Peshmerga fighters, on October 2, 2014. [AFP]

The US government's giant humanitarian agency USAID on Tuesday announced it was placing its staff in the United States and around the world on administrative leave as it moved to recall employees from overseas postings.

The agency said in a statement on its website -- which reappeared Tuesday after going dark over the weekend -- that the staff leave will begin shortly before midnight on February 7.