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Afghan Crime Wave Threatens Aid Efforts

Sunday, April 6, 2003
(9:27 AM)
The Los Angeles Times

The men told the staff they were being robbed because they were "spies for America," said a project director for the charity in Kabul, the capital. The crimes are attributed to a variety of causes, ranging from economic hardship to sympathy with besieged Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to simple corruption, sometimes on a massive scale.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- LAT
A spate of violence, including the murder of a Red Cross worker, is causing international aid agencies to suspend operations in parts of Afghanistan and prompting renewed concerns about this war-scarred nation´s chances of ever returning to health.

The government of President Hamid Karzai acknowledges it has a crime wave on its hands, one that includes armed robberies, carjackings, assaults and extortion, often targeting international donor agencies. But the Karzai administration seems powerless to curb the violence and acknowledges there is no short-term solution.

What is certain is that with its economy still inert after 25 years of conflict, and the central government unable to collect more than a fraction of the revenue it needs to finance its operations, Afghanistan depends on outside aid agencies to deliver basic services such as health care, education and water to its citizens.

If rising crime frightened these organizations away, the country would be left in truly desperate straits. Already, crime has reached such a level that most international agencies have suspended field operations in the southern third of the country, where much of the violence is concentrated. Many halted operations after the killing last month of Red Cross water engineer Ricardo Munguia, 39, in southern Oruzgan province. A spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said the relief agency is still considering "if and when to take up operations again."

The general climate of insecurity was driven home again Thursday when a friend of Karzai´s, Haji Gilani, was killed as he walked with his nephew past their home in Deh Rawod in Oruzgan province. The younger man also was slain. Oruzgan Gov. Jan Mohammed told reporters that remnants of the deposed Taliban regime were behind the killings.
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2003 © The Los Angeles Times

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