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KABUL — Reflecting the sharply deteriorating security situation in Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest metropolis, the United Nations on Monday pulled foreign staff out of the city and instructed hundreds of local employees not to come to work.

The move came on the same day a series of explosions in the city killed two civilians.

NATO forces have set their sights on Kandahar with the aim of driving the Taliban out of the city this summer. Kandahar, home to about 1 million people, is the hub of the country’s south and the insurgency’s spiritual home.

Most of the 30,000 arriving American troop reinforcements are being deployed in Afghanistan’s south, and many will take part in the offensive, which is already in its early stages. Taliban fighters, in turn, have ratcheted up attacks around the city.

U.N. officials described the pullout of foreign staffers as a temporary measure and said the move would be under ongoing review.

Officials refused to say how many international employees had been recalled to the relative safety of the capital, Kabul. The stay-at- home order to local staff affects more than 200 people, said spokesman Dan McNorton.

Many foreign contractors and aid organizations have placed staffers working in Kandahar under tight restrictions because of the danger. But the U.N.’s move marks the most sweeping response to constant threats and near-daily bombings that are generally aimed at official installations yet most often wind up maiming and killing civilians.

The latest of those came Monday when two blasts went off in the city and a third in the surrounding environs, killing two civilians. The apparent target of one explosion was a senior police official.