NGOs victims of growing criminality

Aid workers in the capital Kabul have raised concern about the increase in violent attacks on aid agencies over the last couple of months. In just four weeks, several NGOs have been targeted by gunmen and criminals in the capital. "It is shocking that even in the capital, with thousands of international peacekeepers present, NGOs come under violent attack," Lal Gul, the head of the Afghan Commission for Human Rights (ACHR) told IRIN on Wednesday. Gul said that last Friday several armed men dressed in police uniforms broke into the ACHR office and tried to rob the premises. "They entered the building by force and tried to get into my office but with the help of neighbours they were forced to escape." The ACHR incident follows at least two other armed robberies of international organisations that have declined to be named for security reasons. In one of the attacks, intruders were able to steal over US $100,000 as well as computers and equipment. According to the Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR), an umbrella group representing over 90 national and international aid agencies in Afghanistan, the problem is not confined to Kabul. "In addition to insurgent attacks, the NGOs are the victims of irresponsible and irregular militias in Kabul and the provinces," Mohammad Hashim Mayar, a programme coordinator with ACBAR, told IRIN. There are over 1,500 national and more than 300 international NGOs operating across Afghanistan. Since the fall of the hard-line Taliban late in 2001, dozens of aid workers have been killed in violent attacks in various parts of the country, particularly in the troubled south. The killings and robberies are part of a growing trend of criminality, rather than being politically or ideologically motivated, aid workers say. "The majority of the killings have not been conducted by the insurgency but are instead criminal killings by various people in different categories." Although tens of thousands of ex-combatants have been disarmed, poverty-stricken Afghanistan remains a dangerous and lawless place, according to NGO heads. "Jobs are scarce, weapons are still freely available and foreign organisations and NGOs make tempting targets because of their relative wealth," one told IRIN on condition of anonymity. According to the Afghan NGOs Security Office (ANSO), in 2004 at least 24 aid workers were murdered, most of them Afghans. "The year before there were only 13 [murder cases]. There has been a very significant increase in violent attacks on aid workers in the last two years," Nick Downie, ANSO coordinator, told IRIN.