Aid agencies pull out

Several foreign aid agencies withdrew from Afghanistan on Thursday, as a precaution against a possible United States retaliatory military attack after Tuesday's terror attacks on New York and Washington. Nancy Dupree of the Agency Coordination Body for Afghanistan Relief, based in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, told IRIN on Thursday that most foreign aid workers were "out or on their way out" of Afghanistan. The UN began withdrawing its international staff on Tuesday, warning local staff members to stay at home and await instructions.

In August 1998, in retaliation for the bombing of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, Washington sent 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles to attack targets in eastern Afghanistan. Bin Ladin escaped unhurt, although some of his followers were killed and injured.

However, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Pakistan told IRIN that the agency had remained in Afghanistan and that staff had withdrawn from rural areas but were continuing to work normally. "We're trying to get our staff into towns. Those that want to leave Afghanistan can do so, some have relocated to Peshawar," Anton Hartmann, communications officer with ICRC Pakistan, told IRIN.

Poul Nielson, the European Union's development and humanitarian aid commissioner, cancelled a trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday in the wake of the terror attacks, AFP reported. His trip was to have included a tour of refugee camps, and meetings with representatives of the ruling Taliban, the Afghan opposition and the Pakistani government. "In view of the terrible events... and the uncertainty linked to the security situation, it has been decided to postpone until further notice," said a statement from Nielson's office.