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Hundreds of Afghan soldiers and US-led coalition troops have been deployed on highways in south Afghanistan to increase security since a Red Cross worker was murdered one week ago, a United Nations spokesman said in Kabul on Sunday.
Local governments in southern provinces will also send mobile patrols and set up security checkpoints in high-risk areas, UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva told a press briefing.
He said 50 policemen were to be stationed in each of the 17 districts of Kandahar province, a former Taliban stronghold, where armed members of the ousted Taliban have been stepping up their activities against the Afghan government and the US-led coalition forces.
The killing of Swiss water expert Richardo Munguia of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who was shot dead by suspected Taliban gunmen near Kandahar on March 27, has prompted the Afghan government to strengthen security to protect foreign aid agencies operating in southern provinces.
According to the spokesman, a newly-established committee in Kandahar, comprising of representatives of local authorities, UN agencies and aid organizations will meet every week to assess security in high-risk areas.
(Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2003)
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