UN evacuates staff after fatal attack by Taleban

Published on Thursday 5 November 2009 21:27

THE United Nations is to evacuate more than half of its staff in Afghanistan following a Taleban attack which killed five employees.

In what represents a major blow to efforts to bring stability to the country, the organisation said the temporary move was necessary to safeguard the welfare of its workforce.

However, in a stark warning that it could withdraw permanently, the UN's special envoy in Kabul made clear Hamid Karzai's government must make progress.

"The debate over the last few weeks has demonstrated that there are more question marks and more doubt with regard to the strength of the international commitment to Afghanistan," said Kai Eide.

He added: "There is a belief among some that the international community will continue whatever happens because of the strategic importance of Afghanistan. I would like to emphasise that that's not true."

The attack in Kabul last week was the most direct targeting of UN employees during the organisation's decades of work in Afghanistan.

Some 600 non-essential staff will be moved for four to five weeks to more secure locations in and outside Afghanistan, including Dubai, while the body works to find safer permanent housing.

Aleem Siddique, a UN spokesman, said the majority of its 1,100 international staff in Afghanistan live in the capital, spread out among more than 90 guesthouses. The plan is to consolidate those living arrangements into a facility like the "Green Zone" in Baghdad so staff can be better protected.

Mr Siddique stressed the measure did not represent a scaling down of operations. "We've been here for over half a century and we're not about to go any time soon," he said.

In the 28 October attack, gunmen wearing explosive vests under police uniforms stormed a private guesthouse where dozens of UN staff lived, killing five UN workers and three Afghans.

The Taleban claimed responsibility for the assault, saying they targeted UN employees working on the recent presidential election.

Much UN work in Afghanistan has been put on hold since the deaths, with employees given the option to take leave.