KABUL (AFP) — The gunning down of three Westerners in the Afghan capital in less than a week is a sharp reminder that Kabul is no longer a safe haven in a country gripped by violence, expatriates say.
Saturday's shooting of a Briton and a South African, along with an Afghan, outside the offices of the international shipping company DHL appears to have been the result of a dispute unrelated to a growing Taliban insurgency.
Nevertheless, it feeds a sense of insecurity with international residents already concerned by Monday's killing of a British-South African aid worker and a series of attacks against expatriates this year.
"It is the unpredictability of security incidents which is making it difficult," said Anu John, who has been in Kabul for 15 months employed by an international non-government organisation.
"The security seems to have deteriorated significantly in the last three to four months... the changes are pretty visible," she said.
Kabul has long been a city of checkpoints, armed guards and razor wire, despite its attempts to find normality after decades of war and the harsh 1996-2001 Taliban regime.
But for all that, it was seen as relatively safe when compared to the rest of the country.
However this year opened with January's brazen assault on a five-star hotel and saw an April attempt to kill President Hamid Karzai, as well as July's Indian embassy bombing which left more than 60 people dead.
Since then security has been boosted noticeably. Embassies and offices are hidden behind enormous concrete barricades; more roads have been closed to the public; and areas have been sectioned off with new checkpoints.
Similarly, buildings have been sandbagged and Western restaurants -- one of the few entertainment options for expats -- have new bullet-proof doors and strict entrance procedures.
"The Taliban are getting closer and closer and there is proof they have infiltrated the city and there are cells in the city," a Western security expert said on condition of anonymity.
Three or four "big attacks" had been foiled in the past few months and threats against international restaurants had been in the air for a long time, he said.
International civilians are an easy target because many move about with little security but offer maximum publicity for attackers with a cause, he said, adding: "The way forward is to pull up the drawbridge."
"Two-and-a-half years ago it was sporadic bombs... now it is a range of incidents that are more spectacular -- abductions and murders," another Western security officer said of the dangers.
Kidnappings for ransom have in particular surged in the city this year, although Afghans are most often the victims amid suggestions of the involvement of government officials.
But expatriates are also feeling the pressure: those who have resisted hiring armed guards are wondering if it is time to reconsider; some are scaling back their movements within the city; many have done security reviews.
"Even restaurants do not feel safe any longer," said John. "Travelling the streets in a car also feels risky even in broad daylight."
She has guards accompany her on the short walk to her office, "which I would have found extremely unnatural three months back," she said, adding her friends and family back home are pressuring her to leave.
Another international resident of Kabul, Valerie Robert, said she wanted to avoid the alarm that security companies sometimes generated but had to admit the risks have changed.
"Last year it was mostly suicide attacks -- it seems that now we can be targetted and shot for just being a foreigner," she said.
Robert wears a headscarf when outside to avoid being spotted as a foreigner and does not walk even short distances.
"My house has been protected with barbed wire and my bedroom has been transformed into a panic room," she said.
She believes corruption, lack of trust in the administration, massive waste of funds and bad management are turning people away from the government, leading to deteriorating security.
But she is not ready to quit. "I still think we can make a difference here," she said.
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