NGOs step up security following kidnappings

NGOs in the Afghan capital Kabul are stepping up their security measures following last week's kidnapping of three international UN staff. "That such an incident could happen in broad daylight on a busy Kabul street is a reflection of a deteriorating security situation," Nick Downie, head of the Afghanistan NGO Security Office (ANSO), told IRIN on Tuesday. A Taliban splinter group claimed it abducted British/Irish citizen Annetta Flanigan along with Filipino Angelito Nayan and Kosovan Shqipe Habibi in the Afghan capital and is threatening to kill them unless the United Nations and foreign troops leave Afghanistan. The three UN election workers were taken from a UN vehicle in Kabul on Thursday. Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, released a videotape on Sunday showing the frightened captives. The government voiced hope on Monday the three could be saved. "We are optimistic that the hostages will be released," Defence Ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimi said, declining to elaborate for fear of jeopardising the process. Downie said foreign and local NGOs in Afghanistan had been bracing themselves for an incident of this kind. "From a security perspective, we had been anticipating some type of significant acts during this election period. We noted some extreme, global Jihad propaganda entering the country, we had noted the publicly stated intent of extremist groups but perhaps that was overtaken by the euphoria over a successful few days of voting." The UN in Afghanistan said its security management team had reviewed the security situation in the light of Thursday's abduction. "Their decision is that all programmes and operations continue and that there should be no change in UN staff levels in the country," Manoel de Almeida e Silva, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA), said at a press conference on Sunday in the capital. "The team's main agreement is that measures that are already in place in some parts of the country, in particular concerning protection of UN vehicle movements, are now applicable to areas of Kabul," the spokesman added. ANSO said it was taking similar measures. "We are considering and have adopted new, more serious measures that will restrict movements and presence in a manner that has not occurred before," Downie said. CARE International, one of the biggest NGOs in Afghanistan, said the abductions had highlighted the need to boost security throughout the country to make it safe for humanitarian aid and badly needed reconstruction. "It underscores the importance of making greater progress on security sector reform, the demobilisation and disarmament of militias and the creation of a professional and multi-ethnic security force," Paul Barker, the NGO's country director in Afghanistan, told IRIN. On Tuesday, Afghanistan's chief mullah, Shaikh ul Hadis Mulawi Fazel Hadi Shinwari, condemned the kidnapping and appealed to the captors to release the three UN staff members unharmed ahead of a deadline set for Wednesday, when the kidnappers have said they will be executed.