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UN shuts operations in parts of Afghanistan

"To kill deliberately someone who was in Afghanistan to assist the people is something that no one can excuse -- whatever the cause, [it] cannot be justified."

Kofi Annan, UN secretary general

The UN suspended operations in southern and eastern Afghanistan on Monday following the killing of a French UN worker and a series of terrorist attacks.

UN associate spokeswoman Marie Okabe announced the suspension of the UN programs, which deal mainly with humanitarian relief, health care and refugees.

She said the three other UN international staffers in the southern provincial capital of Ghazni, where Bettina Goislard was killed Sunday, had been relocated to Kabul. Staff from Afghanistan were confined to their compounds and homes, she said.

"UN operations in the south, southeast and east were suspended pending further security assessments," Okabe said. "We hope it's a temporary suspension because as soon as we can get security clearance, we want to start resuming our assistance to the people there."

Goislard, 29, a widely respected UN High Commissioner for Refugees worker, was gunned down by two Afghan men on a motorcycle. She was the first UN foreign aid worker to be slain in Afghanistan since the Taliban regime was ousted by a US-led coalition two years ago.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called it "a vicious attack."

"To kill deliberately someone who was in Afghanistan to assist the people is something that no one can excuse -- whatever the cause, [it] cannot be justified," he said.

The security committee of the UN Staff Union, which represents more than 5,000 staffers worldwide, said it was "outraged" and expressed alarm at the "growing trend of deliberate attacks on aid workers in Afghanistan."

In light of the attack on Goislard, the committee again urged Annan to conduct a comprehensive security review and not deploy new staff until it is completed, stressing that the safety of UN staff must remain "the highest priority."

Annan, not responding directly to the union, said "obviously we are taking measures to protect the staff and continue our operations as best as we can."

"We are not going to be reckless. It will entail some changes in the way we operate and I think we are beginning to take measures already," the secretary-general said.

There was also a bomb attack Sunday on a UN vehicle in eastern Paktia province, though Okabe said no one was hurt. And on Nov. 11, a car bomb exploded outside UN offices in the southern city of Kandahar.

The UN is continuing its operations in the northern half of Afghanistan, including in the capital Kabul and the cities of Mazar-e-Sharif in the north and Herat in the west, Okabe said.

There are about 800 UN international staffers in Afghanistan, more than 500 in Kabul and the rest scattered in about a dozen locations, she said.

She did not disclose how many were in the south and east but said only those in Ghazni had been relocated to Kabul. The rest remained in the region.
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