Nick Meo, 'Leaked aid map of Afghanistan reveals expansion of no-go zones', Times, 5 December 2007
"Almost half of Afghanistan is now too dangerous for aid workers to operate in, a leaked UN map seen by The Times shows. In the past two years most foreign and Afghan staff have withdrawn from the southern half of the country, abandoning or scaling back development projects in rural areas and confining themselves to the cities or the less risky north. The pullback compounds the problems of the Government in Kabul, which has struggled to extend its authority to the regions and provinces, which are increasingly lawless or Taleban controlled. [...] The unpublished map... illustrates risk levels across the nation. It shows a marked deterioration in security since 2005, when compared with a similar map from March of that year. [...] The map has emerged after a row in Kabul about just how much of the country the Taleban now controls."
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Previously released humanitarian accessibility maps are available on the Monitor's data section.
UPDATE (3:50pm): 'De Facto Taliban Al Qaeda State forming on Pakistan/Afghanistan Border', The Senlis Council, 5 December 2007
Related posts:
'Taliban in Control of 54 Percent of Afghanistan: Senlis Council', 21 November 2007
'Violence Restricting UN Operations in South, East', 12 October 2007
'UNDSS Half-Year Review of the Security Situation in Afghanistan', 9 October 2007
'New U.N. Report Highlights Widespread Corruption, Insecurity', 27 September 2007
