Three employees of the United Nations refugee agency were killed and two others wounded today when suicide bombers and gunmen carried out an attack near the world body’s compound in southern Afghanistan.
The number of Afghan refugees returning home has dropped substantially this year, with some 60,000 repatriating in the first 10 months compared to more than 100,000 over the same period in 2010, the United Nations refugee agency reported today.
The Security Council today extended the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan for another year, welcoming the agreement between the country and troop-contributing States to gradually transfer key security responsibilities to the Afghan Government by the end of 2014.
The cultivation in Afghanistan of opium poppies – the crop used to make heroin and other drugs – has increased by seven per cent this year because of continued insecurity and higher prices, a United Nations-backed survey reveals today.
