Kabul, Afghanistan – The United Nations has encouraged some nonessential staff to leave Afghanistan amid security concerns ahead of Sept. 18 elections, and the government warned aid workers Sunday that they are likely targets after a string of assaults on foreigners.
Insurgents, meanwhile, launched a fresh spate of guerrilla-style strikes over the weekend, sparking fierce battles that killed a district police chief, seven officers, an election candidate and three others, officials said.
More than 1,100 people have been killed in the past six months, and U.S. military commanders believe the violence may worsen as rebels step up attacks with legislative elections just two weeks away, the next key step toward democracy after a quarter century of fighting.
U.N. spokesman Adrian Edwards told The Associated Press that some of the world body’s agencies had urged some employees to take vacation during the elections because of fears of violence, though he noted that the official U.N. alert level had not changed.
“The United Nations continues to monitor the security situation,” he said.
Emma Sutcliffe, a U.N. Development Program communications associate, said, “We have been encouraged to take R and R (rest and recreation), but it’s not mandatory.
“For those who remain behind, there’ll be minimal movement,” she said.
Other U.N. agencies, though, including the World Food Program and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said they had not increased their security precautions.
Some of the latest violence has been against foreigners, including the killing of a kidnapped British engineer and the separate slaying of two Japanese teachers, spiking fears among the roughly 3,000-strong expatriate community in Kabul.
The body of Briton David Addison was found Saturday when American commandos stormed a suspected Taliban hideout in western mountains.
Addison was working for a foreign company building a road from Kandahar to the western city of Herat when he was abducted Wednesday.
Interior Ministry spokesman Latfullah Mashal said the kidnappers killed Addison immediately after taking him hostage.
In the latest violence, suspected Taliban rebels ambushed a district police chief in Helmand province Sunday while he was driving, killing him, three of his officers and his son, said local Gov. Amanullah Khan.
Two militants were killed when the police shot back at the attackers, he said.
Another three policemen were killed Saturday when rebels attacked a convoy.
