Anti-U.S. Protesters Attack U.N. Facilities in Pakistan

Anti-American protesters opposed to U.S.-led military strikes against Afghanistan attacked two U.N. facilities in the southern Pakistan city of Quetta, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said Monday.

The protesters hurled rocks at the local office of the UNHCR and set fire to the nearby office of the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). No one was reported hurt in either incident.

The stoning of the UNHCR facility was the ''most serious security incident UNHCR staff have experienced in Pakistan,'' the refugee agency said.

The UNHCR said it hopes the events are accidental, but that it will have to review operations related to aiding Afghan refugees if the unstable situation persists.

The ''tense security situation is hampering work by the UNHCR and its partners who are trying to prepare for a possible large influx from Afghanistan,'' it said.

The UNHCR also mentioned that a team traveling to areas near Peshawar in northern Pakistan to assist refugees had been driven away by locals.






People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/