Aid workers say poverty contributes to Afghanistan's security dilemma

Published: 2008-01-18

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNS) -- Poverty contributes to Afghanistan's security dilemma and violence, said aid workers. "Poverty is the source of the instability," said Mohammad Zakir Stanikzai, a senior program officer for the U.S.-based humanitarian organization Church World Service. His work takes him to many of Afghanistan's rural areas. "People feel like: 'Why not join the Taliban? We have nothing to lose,'" he said. The British news agency Reuters reported Jan. 17 that attacks by the Taliban, backed by al-Qaida, have increased in the past two years. The Islamic-fundamentalist Taliban ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 until U.S.-led forces ousted them in 2001. Fear of attacks has complicated humanitarian efforts in Afghanistan, where aid work has never been easy. "It is increasingly difficult for internationals to travel with confidence beyond urban areas," said Paul Hicks, country representative in Afghanistan for Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' overseas relief and development agency.

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