The United Nations said today that it had begun withdrawing its 80 expatriate staff from Afghanistan after suicide attacks in the United States, but said the pullout was temporary.
In a statement issued by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the world body said it was temporarily relocating international staff currently deployed in Afghanistan at six offices.
The pullout came amid fears of possible US retaliatory strikes after yesterday’s unprecedented attacks by unidentified aircraft hijackers on the World Trade Center in New York and on the Pentagon in Washington.
After the destruction of two US embassies in Africa in 1998, the US launched missile strikes on Afghanistan, targeting suspected hideouts of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden whom it blames for those attacks which killed 200 people.
"Due to circumstances prevailing internationally, the United Nations system in Afghanistan is temporarily relocating international United Nations staff working in Afghanistan," it said.
"The relocation of up to 80 international staff began on September 12th and is expected to be completed on September 13th.
"Authorities in Afghanistan have co-operated in issuing the necessary flight clearances," it added.
In Geneva, UN spokeswoman Ms Marie Heuze said that the staff would be taken to Islamabad in neighbouring Pakistan.
UN expatriate staff are now deployed in six locations in the war-torn country: Kabul, Jalalabad, Mazar, Kandahar, Herat and Faisalbad.
"United Nations humanitarian agencies hope that activities can continue as normal so that critical pre-winter relief work can be completed," the statement added.
Yesterday, the UN envoy for Afghanistan said that if Washington believed the latest attacks were linked to bin Laden, it would have incalculable consequences for Afghanistan.