Betwa Sharma

United Nations, Nov 7 (PTI) Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has clarified that the relocation of UN staff members in Afghanistan should not be misconstrued as flight from the war-torn country.

"I know some people have inaccurately characterised this as withdrawal or evacuation," Ban told journalists here.

"Let me be crystal clear we are not evacuating, we will not, cannot and must not be deterred.. our work will continue," he said.

"I was able to see for myself that the determination and commitment of our staff in Afghanistan remains strong," he said yesterday, speaking of his recent trip following the attack on the UN workers in Kabul.

International staff members are being relocated to safer sites within Afghanistan with 200 going to other duty stations within the region. No critical staff is being removed, according to the UN.