UN suspends operations in 4 Afghan provinces

UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno told the UN Security Council Friday the decision had been made because many of the fundamental causes of insecurity in Afghanistan "remain unresolved."

Guehenno said the insecurity came from extremist attacks, factionalised government ministries and the weakening of the political compact that supports the provisional government.

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"Many fundamental, structural causes of insecurity remain unresolved," Guehenno noted, even as the final and most important stages of the Afghan internal peace process move ahead.

He cited a tank battle between two rival Afghan factions earlier this month, but said "the primary source of insecurity remains terrorist attacks and continued sizable cross-border infiltration by suspected Taliban, al-Qaeda and Hizb-i-Islami insurgents.

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According to Guehenno, every border district in the country except one has been labeled "high risk" by the UN security coordinator.

The announcement coincided with a report by Afghan state television that 10 civilians, including five women and two children, had been killed in a "terrorist" ambush in northern Afghanistan.

UN peacekeeping staff have noted that attacks against government, military and humanitarian personnel are "steadily increasing," especially against Afghans working with international organizations, the UN undersecretary general pointed out.

Such attacks, he said, "seriously jeopardize the safety of personnel and limit the ability to conduct reconstruction and political activities."

"The trend towards targeting civilians supportive of the central government and peace process supports the view that the UN must also be seen as a target," Guehenno said.

The undersecretary general pointed to "worrying signs" that the political compact that helps support the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, "may be weakening."

He added that further reforms are needed in national security ministries and all other government ministries, which remain influenced by factional and ethnic interests.

"Over the past few weeks, the division between those that would turn the corner of Afghanistan's past, and those that would preserve their entitlement appear to have deepened," Guehenno stressed.

Donors have pledged more than four billion dollars in aid over five years but as much as six billion dollars annually could be needed to get the country back on its feet, according to UN officials.

The Security Council, which last week authorized international peacekeeprs to deploy outside the capital Kabul in a bid to help restore order, is expected to send a fact-finding mission to Afghanistan next week for a first-hand look at the situation.