The United Nations is relocating hundreds of its international staff members in Afghanistan, while it works to obtain more secure housing amid volatile conditions in the war-ravaged country.
Last week, Taliban militants stormed a guest house in Kabul and killed five UN staffers and three Afghans. The three suicide attackers died during the assault.
The Taliban said it had planned the attack to target UN workers involved in the proposed runoff election between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his main challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. That vote was later cancelled after Abdullah said he would not participate because of fraud concerns. As a result, Karzai was acclaimed as Afghan leader.
In the aftermath of the Oct. 28 attack the UN said it was not abandoning Afghanistan, though it is clear that it is reevaluating its security measures.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has since asked for US$75 million to improve security and for crisis preparation.
"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," said UN spokesperson Adrian Edwards.
On Thursday, UN spokesperson Aleem Siddique said some 600 nonessential staffers will be moved to more secure locations for the next three or four weeks. In the interim, the world body will be working to secure safer and more permanent housing.
Siddique said the move did not constitute a pullout or scale-down in operations.
"We've been here for over half a century and we're not about to go any time soon," said Siddique.
Additionally, four in five UN workers in the country are Afghan citizens and their work will continue uninterrupted, he said.
Kai Eide, the head of the UN's Afghan mission, said most of the staff being relocated are support staff. They are not involved in doing humanitarian work or leading urgent programs.
"We are doing everything we can to minimize disruption of our work during this period," Eide said.
In total, 1,100 international staffers work for the UN in Afghanistan, the majority living in about 90 guesthouses located in Kabul.
With files from The Associated Press
