Security concerns in Zabul province

Following three separate incidents over the past two weeks, aid
officials are concerned over security in the remote southeastern Afghan province of Zabul. Ravaged by more than four years of drought, Zabul is one of the poorest of the beleaguered nation's 32 provinces.

"We are concerned over the security situation in Zabul," Mohammed Hassan, a coordinator for the Afghan Development Agency (ADA), an umbrella body for some 20 aid agencies working in the province, told IRIN from the former Taliban stronghold, of Kandahar on Wednesday. "The situation is getting worse."

On 26 December, a vehicle from the UK-based NGO, Oxfam was hijacked on the main Kandahar-Kabul highway between Qalat and Shah Juy in Zabul province. Acting country representative for Oxfam, Sarah Lumsdon, told IRIN from the Afghan capital, Kabul, that a man with a pistol and a second man with a Kalashnikov assault rifle got into the vehicle, ordered it into the desert, where Oxfam staff were blind-folded with tape and released unharmed.

Although the vehicle was later recovered and two people were arrested, she noted: "We don't know who those two people are and which group they belong to." The incident was followed by a grenade attack outside the ADA office in Qalat city on 29 December, Hassan said, followed soon after by two vehicles from the Afghan NGO, Vara being stolen by unidentified armed men on 2 January.

"Fortunately, there were no injuries or loss of life," Hassan explained. "During the Taliban time, such incidents were limited. Now that they [the incidents] have increased, we are concerned," he added, calling the incidents obvious indicators of what was happening in Zabul.

But while security in the remote province bordering Pakistan might be poor, both NGOs remained determined to stay. "The security situation may be bad, but the humanitarian situation is worse," he said. "This is a drought-affected province and many people - particularly nomads who have lost all their livestock - are suffering," he explained.

Oxfam, which has been active in Zabul for three years and whose food distributions, water source repairs, and veterinary services benefit some 100,000 people, was equally determined to stay on.

Although the international NGO had temporarily suspended its operations pending further examination of the security situation, Lumsdon confirmed that the group was not considering closing down its activities. "Oxfam is committed to ensure staff security that is why the temporary suspension is necessary," she said.

Calling on the government to pay greater attention to the security issue in the area to avoid any disruption in assistance to those most in need, Hassan said: "If people have concerns over security, people will not be willing to work on the ground here."

Sharing the view of many local and foreign aid workers currently working in Afghanistan, Lumsdon maintained that those in need must be able to receive aid supplies intended for them. "The concerned authorities can help aid reaching those in need by ensuring the security of those who deliver the aid," she explained.

Meanwhile, while there has been no conclusive evidence as to who was behind these recent incidents, speculation exists that remnants of the now defunct Taliban were responsible. According to a Reuters report on Monday, Zabul's governor Hamiddullah Tokhi blamed members of the former Taliban regime. "There is no doubt that those who resorted to these actions were Taliban," he reportedly said. "We will try to beef up the security and prevent more Taliban activities," he told the news agency.