UN relocating 600 staff in Afghanistan
Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 3:33 PM ET
CBC News
Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, chief of the UN mission in Afghanistan, said Thursday the UN is temporarily relocating more than half its international staff in Afghanistan following last week's deadly Taliban attack. (Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press)The United Nations said Thursday it is temporarily relocating 600 staff members in Afghanistan after the deadly attack on a UN guest house last week in Kabul.
More than half of the UN's 1,100 international employees in the country will be moved for several weeks to more secure locations in and outside of Afghanistan, said spokesman Aleem Siddique. The plan is to consolidate living arrangements so staff can be better protected, he said.
"We've been here for over half a century and we're not about to go any time soon," Siddique said.
"We are not talking about pulling out," the head of the mission, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, told reporters. "We are not talking about evacuation."
Five UN employees were killed Oct. 28 when gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed one of the 90 Kabul guest houses where international UN staff live.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was related to the run-off in the Afghanistan election and a followup on threats against anyone working on the vote.
Canada works closely with the UN and other partners to deliver various development programs in Afghanistan, and that work will continue despite the increase in violence, Bill Crosbie, Canada's ambassador to Afghanistan said Thursday in a statement.
"Canada regularly reviews our security procedures, in both Kandahar and Kabul, based on information we receive and other factors to ensure all staff are protected while enabling them to undertake Canada's extensive agenda in Afghanistan," Crosbie said.
"Canada remains committed to helping Afghans build a stable and secure country based on the fundamental values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law."
UN calls for security improvements
The run-off vote has since been cancelled and Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared the victor after his opponent Abdullah Abdullah withdrew.
The relocation follows a UN decision on Monday to suspend much of its work in the volatile northwest of neighbouring Pakistan because of increasingly targeted attacks. The UN has lost 11 staffers in Pakistan this year, including last month's bombing of the World Food Program's office in Islamabad that killed five people.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon requested an additional $75 million US to help with security improvements and crisis preparation in Afghanistan after the attack, spokesman Adrian Edwards said.
"There is no going back to the previous situation we were in. Our security clearly isn't up to the job of dealing with these kinds of attacks," Edwards said.
With files from The Associated Press
