UN to downscale staffing in Afghanistan
The UN has announced it plans to decrease its staffing in Afghanistan from 1300 by at least 600 staffers, effective immediately, for security concerns. Taliban militants had recently attacked a UN guest house and killed five of the international organization's staff during the attack. If the security situation permits, they said they would bring the staffing level back up if security permits. In the meantime, they would consolidate people together rather than have them dotted all over Kabul. This temporary relocation of staff out of Afghanistan is likely to take three to four weeks, the UN spokesman in Kabul said. The move will not affect key UN work such as aid delivery as this is done by local Afghan staff, he added. But, is this the first, tentative step toward downscaling a UN presence in Afghanistan? Read more: BBC News
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