US military and government targeted in north

Aid workers have reiterated concerns over the progress of reconstruction following a recent attack on the government and the US military in northern Afghanistan. Although it is still unclear as to who was behind the attack, such action by dissidents against the international military forces and both central and regional governments have been frequent. In this incident, which took place in Konduz Province on Saturday, there were three explosions, the first at the residence of the provincial governor and the other two near a building housing coalition forces, an unnamed coalition officer in the capital, Kabul, confirmed to IRIN. "In the overall security context, it is a worrying development and we have made our opinion clear regarding the deteriorating security situation," Barbara Stapleton, the advocacy coordinator for the Kabul-based Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), told IRIN in Kabul. "It indicates that those with an extremist agenda are widely dispersed throughout the country and are capable of launching attacks wherever they choose to." NGOS say this incident is part of the ongoing downward spiral of security in the country and demonstrative of the low level of security faced by ordinary Afghans in daily life, as well as the failure to protect them. With ongoing attention focused on Iraq, the issue of protection for civilians in armed conflict in many parts of the world such as Afghanistan was raised by UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima at a UN Security Council meeting late last week. He said there had been "horrendous acts of violence" perpetrated against civilians over the past year. He concluded that the culture of protection urged the UN to put individuals in need of protection at the centre of its efforts. [For full report see: www.reliefweb.int] Meanwhile, Amnesty International (AI), sharing such concerns over safety, stated that the security situation in Afghanistan was currently not conducive to promoting voluntary repatriation of refugees and asylum seekers. It urged that countries should not rush to return people to an unsustainable situation. "The security situation across Afghanistan has steadily deteriorated in 2003, and cannot be said to have fundamentally, durably and effectively changed. It is therefore unlikely that repatriation can be promoted in the foreseeable future," an AI statement said on Monday. In its report, entitled "Afghanistan: Out of sight, out of mind: The fate of the Afghan returnees", AI highlights concerns that, under current conditions, the inability of many refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) to sustain their return to their places of origin or preferred destination is leading to destitution and renewed cycles of displacement.