UN to relocate one-third of foreign staff in Afghanistan (Lead)
November 5th, 2009 - 4:59 pm ICT by IANS
Kabul, Nov 5 (DPA) The UN plans to relocate 12 percent of its workers in Afghanistan, including one third of its international staff, in the face of mounting Taliban attacks, officials said Thursday.
The decision came more than a week after Taliban militants attacked a UN guest house in Kabul, killing five of its international staff and three Afghan nationals.
“The UN is putting in place immediate additional security measures for its national and international staff in Afghanistan,” Kai Eide, special representative of the UN secretary-general in Afghanistan, told a press conference in Kabul.
“There will be a short-term relocation of up to 12 percent of our staff while this is going on,” he said, but insisted that the relocation would not affect the UN’s work in Afghanistan, because “most of the staff are support staff or what I call non-front-line staff.”
Eide did not provide any figures for the number of UN staff affected by the decision, but Adrian Edwards, a UN spokesman, said that up to 600 staff, including more than 300 international staff, would be relocated.
About 5,500 UN workers, including around 1,000 foreign staff are currently in Afghanistan, Edwards said.
Eide said that the relocation would include sending staff outside the country, but said: “We are not talking about pulling out and we are not talking about evacuation.”
The UN chief envoy said that the decision was taken in light of the Oct 28 attack on a UN guest house in downtown Kabul, in which three militants carrying automatic rifles and wearing suicide vests stormed the building.
The Taliban took responsibility for the attack.
- UN relocating 600 staff from Afghan danger zones (Second Lead) - Nov 05, 2009
- UN relocates hundreds of staff in Afghanistan - Nov 05, 2009
- UN workers in Kabul attacked hour before security ready - Oct 31, 2009
- Taliban step up attacks ahead of Afghan Loya Jirga - Nov 04, 2011
- Karzai ready for foreign monitors in election watchdog - Mar 13, 2010
- Taliban attack Afghan presidential palace, ministries - Jan 18, 2010
- Taliban attack UN guesthouse in Kabul, kill seven - Oct 28, 2009
- UN's Afghan rep challenges Obama's surge, calls for talks with Taliban's Mullah Omar - Feb 23, 2010
- Kabul UN guesthouse attack death toll mounts to 10 - Oct 28, 2009
- Security tight for Afghan elections; Taliban attacks feared - Sep 17, 2010
- 600 UN staff to be relocated after attack at Kabul headquarters - Nov 05, 2009
- NATO commander meets Pakistan army chief - Sep 10, 2011
- NATO blames Pakistani Taliban for Kabul attack - Sep 15, 2011
- UN chief arrives in Kabul amid poll turmoil - Nov 02, 2009
- UN to move some staff out of Pakistan - Jan 01, 2010
Tags: additional security measures, adrian edwards, automatic rifles, guest house, international staff, kabul, kai, line staff, militants, nationals, nov 5, short term relocation, spokesman said that, suicide, support staff, taliban, un secretary general, vests, work in afghanistan
