Afghanistan's Taliban militia has taken over UN offices in the southern city of Kandahar and placed a communications blackout on other UN operations, a spokeswoman for the world body told AFP Monday.
Spokeswomen Stephanie Bunker also said most UN humanitarian operations in the country had been disrupted or had ceased altogether due to a ban on communications slapped on UN offices last week.
"It is possible that any attempt to communicate with the outside world could put staff at the risk of their lives," she said.
She said the Islamic militia had entered the UN offices in Kandahar, the Taliban's southern stronghold, over the weekend and closed down vital relief work and mine clearing operations amid a deepening humanitarian crisis.
"Local authorities have taken over UN offices in Kandahar as well as some NGO [non-governmental organizations] offices. They have also taken over the offices of two NGOs working under the umbrella of the UN Mine Action Program in Afghanistan," Bunker said.
She said the move had obvious "profound consequences" for the more than 100,000 people who are believed to have fled Kandahar for the safety of the countryside or the Pakistani border over the past two weeks.
On Friday, the Taliban "entered UN offices in Kabul and locked and sealed all communications equipment", she said.
"Over the weekend similar actions were taken at three other locations around the country," Bunker said.
The Taliban is preparing for war with the United States following the September 11 suicide hijackings in New York and Washington, which has been blamed on the militia's "guest" Osama bin Laden.
Most foreign aid workers pulled out of the deeply impoverished country in the days following the attacks, leaving local Afghan staff to cope with a humanitarian crisis which is now threatening to spin out of control.
UN emergency planners are preparing contingency plans for more than a million refugees in the countries surrounding Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes fearing possible US strikes, adding to the 900,000 who had become displaced over the past year due to civil war and drought.
Bunker said the UN coordinator's office based in Pakistan had warned the Taliban that vital relief efforts might have to be stopped in the areas affected by the communications blackout.
It had asked permission to keep one high-frequency radio in each office but so far there had been no reply from the Taliban.
"The UN previously maintained 24-hour contact with all offices inside Afghanistan and used an array of means to communicate," Bunker said.
"While UN activities continue in the locations without communications, most UN activities have been disrupted or have ceased," Bunker said, without identifying the offices affected.
The Taliban foreign ministry appealed earlier Monday to Americans to put pressure on their government to end its hostility toward the Afghan regime.
It said Afghanistan deeply appreciated the aid it received from the United States during its resistance to the 1979-89 Soviet occupation. The United States is currently the biggest bilateral aid donor to Afghanistan.
"The help and assistance of the American people during jihad [holy war against the USSR] was appreciated," it said.
"But unfortunately the US government has been threatening the people and territory of Afghanistan for some unknown reason and different pretexts.
"It has even sometimes talked of a crusade against the religion of this country which is very horrible” -- ISLAMABAD (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
