Programmes continue despite insecurity in the north

Female aid workers are continuing field missions in northern Afghanistan under heavy security, a UN official told IRIN on Thursday. Earlier, some NGOs had considered pulling out of the region and had stopped female staff from venturing out following the rape of an international staff member working for an aid agency in the area several weeks ago. "Women are now being more cautious in the field and their work is continuing as usual," Reena Ghelani, a humanitarian officer for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, told IRIN. "We have had security meetings for female staff and discussed how we could minimise risks," she said. A national media campaign was launched last week by aid agencies following deteriorating security conditions to publicise the extent of assistance being provided for more than two million people in the country's war-ravaged northern regions. The concern over security was echoed by a briefing paper released by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which concluded that factional rivalry in northern Afghanistan was leading to a rise in attacks on aid workers and Afghan civilians. "The UN has repeatedly negotiated peace agreements between Jonbesh [Jonbesh-e-Melli-e Eslami - National Islamic Movement, led by Abdul Rashid Dostam] and Jamiat [Jamiat-e Eslami - Islamic Society, led by Burhanuddin Rabbani], but has had no means of enforcing compliance," said Vikram Parekh, a HRW researcher covering Afghanistan. Documenting recent cases of sexual violence, forcible recruitment, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and looting by armed groups in the northern part of Afghanistan, the document said foreigners had been targeted in several of these attacks. A number of international NGOs were re-evaluating their operations in the north. However, local people were suffering the most. "There were testimonies from internally displaced people (IDPs) at a camp near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif who were put into forced labour, but they were removed from the site, which is now clear," a UN official told IRIN. "A few weeks ago, at the height of tension between the two factional groups, IDPs were forced to take up arms," said the official, adding that a strategy was now in place to protect IDPs. "The increase in targeted violence stems directly from the security vacuum in the north," said Parekh. "Now the attacks on aid workers threaten a vital lifeline for local civilians, especially the most vulnerable groups." He stressed the need for an extension of the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). "Expanding the ISAF is vital to the security of Afghan civilians and aid groups - nowhere more so than in the north." This view was shared by more than 60 Afghan and international aid groups, which called on the UN Security Council last week to expand ISAF, in a letter issued by the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR). HRW has urged the newly appointed transitional government in Kabul and regional authorities in the north to investigate attacks on NGOs and other civilians, to respect the civilian nature of IDP camps, and to prohibit forcible recruitment by local commanders. "Human Rights Watch also urged full implementation of the 5 May peace agreement brokered by the UN," Parekh statement said.