In the wake of today’s bombing in Rawalpindi, the United Nations announced that it is withdrawing all international staff from Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), effectively ending its already suspended long term development work in the area.

The move comes just a week after the UN mission in Afghan lost five staff members to an assault on a Kabul guesthouse. The attack left the UN scrambling to boost its security in the region.

But unlike in Afghanistan, today’s move in Pakistan doesn’t appear to be directly related to any single attack. The UN lost 11 staffers in a rash of attacks across the nation, but the personnel appear to have been largely incidental in the massive attacks since Pakistan launched its South Waziristan offensive.

The UN says it still hasn’t decided which humanitarian programs will be ended, but has promised that it won’t entirely end assistance to the area.

Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz

• Homegrown US 'Terror Plots' Drop, But Nation Still 'On Edge' - February 9th, 2012
• Amputations Soared Among US Troops in 2011 - February 9th, 2012
• US Still Can't Find Missing Libyan Missiles - February 9th, 2012
• Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: Let Us Form Government - February 9th, 2012
• As Reports of Violence Grow in Syria, So Do Western Calls for Intervention - February 9th, 2012