UN international staff withdrawn from Kandahar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Following a decision yesterday to close UN offices in Kandahar, Afghanistan, all international staff have today been withdrawn and all humanitarian programmes suspended.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.