Afghanistan's Taliban militia Friday closed two more foreign aid groups amid a widening crackdown following the arrest of eight Christian relief workers for alleged proselytising, sources said.
The latest move indicated the Islamic militia's disregard for international concern over the arrests of the eight foreigners in early August and sparked immediate concern from the United Nations.
Aid workers and witnesses said the Islamic militia's religious police had moved against the International Assistance Mission (IAM) and Serve, which were running separate medical projects in war-torn Afghanistan.
The wherabouts of the two groups' staff was not known and Taliban officials were not immediately avialable to comment.
An AFP reporter in Kabul said IAM's office had been sealed with official tape and unarmed Taliban guards were posted at a drug distribution outlet it had operated in another part of the city.
"Last night around 10pm the Taliban came here and since this morning some unarmed Taliban guards have been watching the area," said a local man who worked at a hospital near IAM's pharmaceutical centre.
The staff of both organisations could not be found, but an IAM guard said about 12 Taliban cars had arrived at the group's main office late Thursday night and left shortly afterwards. He did not know why they had come.
Most offices are closed in Kabul on Friday, a weekly holiday in Afghanistan.
German-based aid group Shelter Now International (SNI) was closed in early August and 24 of its staff -- 16 Afghans, two Americans, two Australians and four Germans -- were arrested for allegedly preaching Christianty.
Afghans found guilty of renouncing Islam or inviting Muslims to convert to another religion face the death penalty, but the punishment for foreigners is likely to be less.
The United Nations office in Pakistan said it was concerned about the latest developments but could not confirm the reports from Kabul.
"We are aware that the narrowing of the humanitarian space is continuing and it's now not only SNI that have been targeted but other NGOs (non-governmental organisations) as well," a spokeswoman for the UN Coordinator's Office told AFP.
The UN has previously complained of harassment and abuse of foreign aid workers by Taliban soldiers and warned that the deteriorating security siutation was jeopardising vital relief work.
Afghanistan is in the grip of a humanitarian crisis with some 800,000 people forced to flee their homes in the past year due to a severe drought and the ongoing civil war between the Taliban and opposition forces.
The country's social and political institutions have been destroyed by more than 20 years of relentless war.
The Taliban, a radical movement of "Islamic students", seized Kabul in 1996 and imposed a puritanical brand of Sharia law in the areas they control.
But their fundamentalist regime is still only recognised by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile diplomats and parents representing the two young American women in custody were holed up at the United Nations guesthouse here Friday.
An Australian diplomat visited the two Australian prisoners on Thursday but the others have not been seen since the only previous consular visit on Monday, when all were found to be in good health.
Foreign affairs ministry official Mullah Abdul Rahman Ahmad Hotak told AFP the detained aid workers were at the mercy of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, despite plans for a trial in an Islamic court.
"Naturally the initial resolution will be passed by the court, then that will be presented to the Leader of the Faithful (Omar)," the ministry's consulate chief said -- KABUL (AFP)
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