19 November, 2009 - A Bhutanese UN volunteer, Lhap Tshering, was among the 600 UN international staff temporality evacuated from Afghanistan, after terrorists attacked the UN guesthouse in Kabul on October 20.
Lhap Tshering, 29, who had started working as an ICT regional support officer in Kabul in October 1, said that he didn’t know what happened as he lived in another UN guesthouse. The attack took place in a UN guesthouse called Bakhtar, a few metres away from the one Lhap Tshering stayed in.
According to a press release from the UNV, Taliban militants attacked the UN guesthouse and killed five UN staff, including two UN volunteers.
“I heard that it was around 6:00 am,” said Lhap Tshering, who reached Bhutan on November 6. “There were three of them dressed in police uniform. One of them got inside and shot the security guards and then the other two started firing.”
He said that the presidential election’s results were about to be declared and feels that the guesthouse was attacked because 17 UN election officials stayed in Bakhtar. Lhap Tshering is the only Bhutanese election UN official.
“My friend called around 7:00 am and, when I went out, I saw smoke,” said Lhap Tshering. “People were talking over their radio sets about the attack. The whole day, we stayed like that and some were already evacuated from the back of the house. The attack I was told lasted for about two hours.”
From Tala, Chukha, Lhap Tshering worked in the royal monetary authority for about seven years before joining UNV. “During my first week in Kabul, there was a blast in the Indian embassy killing 17 people,” said Lhap Tshering. “That scared me. I felt it like an earthquake.”
Three Bhutanese, including Lhap Tshering, have been working in Afghanistan as UN volunteers since 2005. The other two, who are still in Afghanistan, are Dhoj Gurung, working as UNV finance officer, in Bamiyan, and Rinzin Wangchuk, UNV engineer, in Kabul.
The UNV officials, said Lhap Tshering, are still working from whichever place they have been evacuated to. “I’m doing administrative assignments from here and we keep in touch through email.”
Despites the attacks in Afghanistan, the UN volunteer said that he isn’t scared to return to Afghanistan in February. “We’re given very good security and I love my job, so I’m not scared,” he said.
Around 8,000 UN Volunteers are currently serving worldwide, including 25 Bhutanese. Most of them are involved in peacekeeping, conflict prevention and peace building.
“I felt safe only after leaving Afghanistan,” said Lhap Tshering. “Coming back to Bhutan feels like being free.”
By Sonam Pelden
