Betwa Sharma/PTI / United Nations Nov 07, 2009, 11:14 IST
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has clarified that the relocation of UN staff members in Afghanistan should not be misconstrued as flight from the war-torn country.
"I know some people have inaccurately characterised this as withdrawal or evacuation," Ban told journalists here.
"Let me be crystal clear we are not evacuating, we will not, cannot and must not be deterred.. Our work will continue," he said.
"I was able to see for myself that the determination and commitment of our staff in Afghanistan remains strong," he said yesterday, speaking of his recent trip following the attack on the UN workers in Kabul.
International staff members are being relocated to safer sites within Afghanistan with 200 going to other duty stations within the region. No critical staff is being removed, according to the UN.
The attack on the UN personnel at the guest house in Kabul by Taliban militants killed five and wounded nine.
In an earlier attack, the UN lost five members in a terrorist attack against the World Food Program office in Islamabad.
Following the attack, Ban has appealed both to the Security Council and General Assembly to allocate more resources to better protect UN workers in and outside of Kabul.
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