UN suspends Afghan operations

2003-10-25 13:15

United Nations - The United Nations has suspended operations in four southern Afghan provinces due to increasing violence and concerns that aid workers could be seen by local militants as targets, a top UN official has announced.

UN Under-secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno told the UN Security Council on Friday the decision had been made because many of the fundamental causes of insecurity in Afghanistan "remain unresolved".

Guehenno said the insecurity came from extremist attacks, factionalised government ministries and the weakening of the political compact that supports the provisional government.

"Many fundamental, structural causes of insecurity remain unresolved," Guehenno noted, even as the final and most important stages of the Afghan internal peace process move ahead.

He cited a tank battle between two rival Afghan factions earlier this month, but said "the primary source of insecurity remains terrorist attacks and continued sizeable cross-border infiltration by suspected Taliban, al-Qaeda and Hizb-i-Islami insurgents".

According to Guehenno, every border district in the country except one has been labeled "high risk" by the UN security co-ordinator.

A UN press release did not specifically name the four provinces where operations have been suspended.

- AFP