An upsurge in violence against foreigners have underlined the dangers that prevail in the Afghan capital Photo: AP Kabul Was A Fun City For Foreigners; Is It Becoming The New Baghdad? -- The Telegraph
Until about three years ago Kabul was an exotic and exciting posting for an ambitious young aid worker or a diplomat; if you were sensible it was safe enough to meet Afghans, go to parties and restaurants, and shop in the bazaars.
Today, after the Taliban resurgence and the growth of banditry, it is starting to look as dangerous as Baghdad at its worst.
Any foreigner arriving for the first time will be given hair-raising warnings about the risks of kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorist attack. Many have armed bodyguards assigned at all times and new businesses specialise in selling technical gadgets that can track an individual's every move by GPS in case of abduction. Where there's risk, there's profit.
Aid workers who could wander the city's bazaars at will in 2005 are now banned from leaving their hotels, which look like fortresses with razor wire and Kalashnikov-toting guards at the entrances.
The threat is real and, many think, worsening: six international aid workers have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan, and two Britons have died in the capital in the last week alone.
The Taliban is not the only danger – although they carry out the worst attacks, like the deadly suicide bombing of the showpiece Serena Hotel last January.
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My Comment: Security will now have to take precedence over aid. But the consequence in this change in policy will now result in a considerable amount of suffering for Afghanistan's poor and destitute.