Rioting forces U.N. to evacuate 38 employees in Herat, Afghanistan

WASHINGTON POST
HERAT, Afghanistan -- The United Nations evacuated 38 foreign employees from this western Afghan city Monday after a day of rioting by supporters of the ousted governor turned half a dozen international aid facilities into smoldering, looted ruins.
Calm returned to the streets after an all-night curfew, while hundreds of national police officers and soldiers patrolled. Schools reopened, shops were busy and horse-drawn carts moved along the tree-lined roads.
Received visitors
The newly appointed governor, Sayeed Mohammed Khairkhwa, spent his first day at work receiving visitors in a hilltop mansion overlooking Herat, guarded by dozens of U.S. and Afghan troops. His predecessor, Ismail Khan, remained secluded at home in the city below.
Khan, 57, who has dominated political life in western Afghanistan for more than two decades, repeatedly signaled his acquiescence to President Hamid Karzai's decision to replace him after weeks of clashes between rival militias left the region tense and Khan weakened politically.
"Ismail Khan has accepted Karzai's decree and considers it his duty. He is happy with the new governor being here," said Nasir Alawi, a top aide to Khan. He said Khan planned to remain in Herat and serve as a security adviser to the new provincial government, though Karzai has asked him to accept a Cabinet post in Kabul, the capital.
Deliberately targeted
Afghan and U.N. officials said it was clear that the mobs that destroyed three U.N. compounds and badly damaged four other agencies Sunday had deliberately targeted foreign facilities to draw attention to their anger about Khan's removal. At least three people died and more than 50 were injured in clashes between protesters and troops.