Civilians face mounting insecurity

The UN has expressed growing concern over the number of people being killed by bombings, and attacked by some armed Taliban elements during US-led air strikes, targeted at Taliban military assets and suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan.

Appealing to all parties to respect the rights of civilians, Stephanie Bunker, the spokeswoman for the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, said a bomb had struck the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif over the weekend, reportedly killing a woman and four men.

Since the strikes began in Afghanistan, there has been increasing concern from the international aid community over the safety of innocent Afghan civilians.

Bunker also referred to the increasing threat of attacks on national staff and on buildings belonging to aid agencies by some armed elements of the Taliban. "Civilians, including aid workers, also must be protected from attacks, harassment, threats and looting from elements within Afghanistan," she added.

Bunker said on Saturday armed elements of the Taliban riding on two pick-up trucks had entered the UN staff house in Mazar-e Sharif and tied up the Taliban guards inside and outside the compound. However, one Taliban guard managed to escape and inform the police, who then engaged in a shoot-out with the "armed elements". The compound was not looted, and the Taliban had now stepped up security there, she said.

An NGO, also in Mazar-e Sharif, reportedly had vehicles stolen. "Staff are clearly the most important resource the aid community has in Afghanistan," Bunker noted.

Bunker also cited an attack on an NGO office in Meymaneh in the northwestern province of Faryab, where "armed elements" had stolen vehicles and some materials. The southern province of Kandahar has also seen an increase in looting, with another nine trucks, belonging to the mine-action programme, stolen by armed Taliban.

"The task ahead of the aid community is already daunting enough, and the aid effort is nowhere close to where it needs to be to save lives in what is now the most serious complex emergency in the world, ever," Bunker said.