UN staff return after six day absence

Ten UN staff returned from Pakistan to duty stations inside Afghanistan on Sunday, six days after they were withdrawn from the country as a precautionary measure. The decision to withdraw them was a safeguard taken immediately before the imposition of new UN sanctions against Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban movement, according to a statement by the Office of the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan on Sunday. The staff have returned to three locations - Kabul in the central region, Herat in the west and Mazar-e-Sharif in the north of Afghanistan. Prior to the withdrawal of staff, Taliban authorities in all parts of the country had assured the UN that maximum efforts would be made to protect UN personnel, premises and property. Despite these assurances, staff were withdrawn as standard operating procedures in such circumstances, the statement said. At the time of withdrawal, the UN stressed its commitment to return international staff as quickly as possible if the security situation in Afghanistan remained stable. According to the statement: “Close monitoring of the situation in Afghanistan indicated that order has prevailed and there have been no security incidents to warrant prolonging the withdrawal.”