UN warns of complete withdrawal from Afghanistan after deadly attack.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

More than half the United Nations staff in Afghanistan are to be evacuated for safety reasons after the killing of five workers last week, and warned that a complete withdrawal could follow.

In the latest blow to the US-led war against the Taliban, the UN said 600 of its 1,100 staff in Afghanistan would be moved to secure locations outside the country for at least three weeks.

The move followed the death of five UN workers in a pre-dawn attack on a guesthouse in Kabul on 28 October -- the most direct attack on its employees in decades of work in the country.

It comes at a time of growing doubt about the international strategy in Afghanistan, which is partly based on civilian support as well as extra troops. Concerns about that approach were underlined yesterday by …