The Taliban threatened to execute any UN workers who...

The Taliban threatened to execute any UN workers who use key equipment in their offices in Afghanistan, a move that nearly shut down the remaining relief work being done in the country.
The militia began raiding UN offices in cities such as Kabul, the capital, and Kandahar, where Taliban leadership is based, over the weekend and sealing their satellite telephones, walkie-talkies, computers and vehicles to bar them from further use, said Stephanie Bunker, the chief UN spokeswoman in Islamabad.
"They warned our staff that if they use these things they will face execution," said Gordon Weiss, the spokesman for Unicef in Islamabad.
"We are worried about the safety of our remaining workers there," Mr Weiss said. "Life will become more miserable for the more than one million people displaced because of drought and civil war."