Civilian casualties worry U.N.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 9. The United States-led military campaign against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban has come under criticism. On the second night of the air raids (on Monday) in Kabul, a United Nations building was bombarded and at least four workers of an NGO, working under the auspices of the U.N., were killed.

Anguished authorities of the U.N. here, who are involved in coordinating the humanitarian aid in Afghanistan, were quick to express their anxiety over the military campaign and its possible impact on civilians.

The U.N. spokeswoman, Ms. Stephanie Bunker, at a press conference here, confirmed the death of the four NGO workers, associated with de-mining operations and the damage to the U.N. building in Monday's air raids around 9.30 p.m. (IST). ``People need to distinguish between combatants and those innocent civilians who do not bear arms,'' Ms. Bunker said, while making an appeal for protection of civilians. The U.N. has pulled out its international staff from different parts of Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks, but hundreds of local workers affiliated to various organisations of the U.N. continue to work on behalf of the agency. It is with the help of the local staff that the U.N. humanitarian aid and assistance operations are carried out.

The biggest worry of the U.N. authorities here is that civilian casualties could seriously affect humanitarian efforts at a juncture when the Afghan people need them most. Faced with the worst drought in the last three decades and the unending civil war, the people are in dire straits.

The killing of the U.N. workers may strengthen the argument of those who are opposed to the bombardment.The Taliban might take advantage of the unfortunate deaths to launch a fresh propaganda offensive against the U.S. campaign.

The Taliban's Ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Saleem Zaeef, claimed here today that a number of civilians have been killed in the raids. ``In this free-style game, Washington is aiming firstly to hunt the sitting Islamic government in Afghanistan and then every committed Muslim in the name of terrorism,'' he said at a news conference.

He claimed that the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, was safe. People were sleeping in their basement during the bombardment, he said. ``All night the women and children were crying. They were very worried and scared. This morning ... American aircraft made three strikes, but due to the use of anti- aircraft guns, they fled,'' the Taliban spokesman, Mullah Abdul Hai Muttmain, has been quoted as saying by the Peshawar-based news agency, the Afghan Islamic Press.

Mullah Muttmain denied as ``absolutely false'' a report by Iran's official news agency that a senior Taliban leader was killed in Monday's assault. The Aviation Minister, Mr. Akhtar Mohammed Mansour, was fine, he said.

``Thanks be to God,'' Mullah Zaeef said when asked whether Osama and his aides had survived the attacks. ``They are alive and in Afghanistan. The health of all the authorities is good,'' he said.

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Section  : International
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