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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

AFGHANISTAN: Aid workers told to remain cautious

ISLAMABAD, 21 February 2003 (IRIN) - The United Nations in Afghanistan has warned staff to remain cautious following anonymous threats warning of increased retaliation in the context of the possibility of a war in Iraq.

"We have been cautious, because some of the [militant] elements have been saying that they will increase retaliation here if there is a war in Iraq," David Singh, the public information officer for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, told IRIN from the capital, Kabul, on Friday.

The comments follow a UN statement on Thursday, directing staff to remain vigilant due to possible terrorist activity. Singh, however, emphasised that the warning was standard. "This is not abnormal, there is nothing new about the statement, and it’s not coming out of the blue," he said.

The warning from the UN follows reports that a US-based NGO was scaling down its operations in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar. "There have been reports that we are suspending our activities there, but this is incorrect. We are controlling missions to certain areas and scaling down," Cassandra Nelson, the senior media relations and communications officer for Mercy Corps, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Friday.

"There has been a general deteriorating environment in the region and we are watching this closely to see if events unravel further," she said, noting that the agency was not pulling its staff out of the region. Mercy Corps security officers in the region are monitoring the situation closely to ensure the safety of their employees.

Singh maintained that the UN was not scaling down its operations in the south of the country. "Agencies come out of Kandahar from time to time based on their perception of security there," he said.

Themes: (IRIN) Conflict

[ENDS]

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