UN condemns murder of development worker

The United Nations on Monday expressed shock at the murder of an Afghan development worker who was killed on Saturday in the western Farah province. Mohammad Hashim worked for the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) on the National Solidarity Programme (NSP. He was involved in rebuilding villages in Farah province. He was on a monitoring visit to project sites in the Bala Buluk district of Farah province when six armed men stopped the vehicle he was travelling in, dragged him out and shot him dead. “Mr Hashim’s death is a great loss for Afghanistan and for all of us in the United Nations family here,” said Tom Koenigs, the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, in the capital Kabul. “His death is a tragic loss for Afghanistan and for UN-HABITAT. It is imperative that the government of Afghanistan investigate the matter and brings the perpetrators swiftly to justice,” said UN-HABITAT executive director Anna Tibaijuka. Strong condemnation of the attack also came from the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD). The ministry expressed its determination to continue its work, often in isolated communities, promoting national solidarity and rural development. UN-HABITAT is supporting the NSP in eight Afghan provinces. Its other projects focus on strengthening local governance, promoting human security, strengthening civil society, and promoting urban planning and land management. Violence blamed on the Taliban has left many southern and eastern parts of Afghanistan off-limits to aid workers. In 2005, 31 aid workers were killed in different parts of the country, compared to 24 aid workers the previous year, according to the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office (ANSO). Insecurity remains a major problem in post-Taliban Afghanistan, with about 1,700 people killed last year in militant violence, making 2005 the deadliest year since 2001. The toll was double that of 2004.