Small bomb explodes close to UN facility

A bomb explosion outside the main UN guesthouse in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday evening left a girl slightly injured. UN spokesman in Kabul Manoel de Almeida e Silva told IRIN from Kabul that as the blast happened outside the UN facility on a busy road, it was difficult to draw any conclusions about the attack or the motive behind it. "We don’t know the intentions or who the perpetrators were," he said. The small home-made device appeared to have been placed in a rubbish bin outside the perimeter of the building that serves as accommodation for UN staff operating in Kabul. Afghan police sealed off the building after the incident and they were reportedly investigating the matter. The device shattered some windows inside the UN building but did not cause any structural damage. UN offices in Kabul are well guarded, but the incident may prompt the UN to tighten security. Kabul remains volatile, despite the presence of around 5,000 international peacekeeping troops. Security was stepped up after the assassination on 6 July of Vice President Abdul Qadir. Earlier in the month a grenade was thrown at UN offices in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, there were no injuries. In another recent incident, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices were looted in the central Afghan town of Ghazni.