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Afghan interim government tells UN of probe into murder of tourism minister

Afghan interim government tells UN of probe into murder of tourism minister

Afghanistan’s interim government today informed the United Nations that it was launching a probe into the killing of its Air Transport and Tourism minister in an attack at Kabul airport on Thursday.

Interim Interior Minister Yunus Qanooni told the acting head of the UN Mission in Kabul, Carl Fischer, that a ministerial commission had been set up to investigate yesterday’s murder and that some arrests had been already made in connection with the killing.

Meanwhile, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today announced that it would open seven voluntary repatriation centres in Pakistan, each with the capacity to process 5,000 Afghans per day. The agency is also working with the authorities in Iran to survey 10 sites in that country, where similar registration centres are planned. In addition, three special exit points will be built along Iran’s 900-mile border with Afghanistan.

At the same time, the agency cautioned against an immediate mass return of the more than 3.5 million Afghans currently living in Iran and Pakistan. “While UNHCR will help those who decide on their own to return to Afghanistan, the country’s fragile security situation and the continuing effects of drought and a devastated economy mean that the UN refugee agency cannot yet actively promote a large-scale, organized repatriation,” spokesman Kris Janowski told reporters in Geneva.