UN international staff withdrawn from Kandahar
STATEMENT BY THE EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR,
UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO
Following a decision yesterday to close
UN offices in Kandahar, Afghanistan, all international staff have today
been withdrawn and all humanitarian programmes suspended. I deeply
regret the factors which led to this decision and the impact on our ability
to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of the Afghan people in the Kandahar
region.
I trust we will be in a position to resume our programmes quickly; to this end, we await written assurances from the Taliban authorities that international humanitarian law and principles will be respected.