NEW DELHI - The United Nations has no plans to suspend or reduce its activities in Pakistan despite Tuesday's bomb attack that killed nine people, including two foreign U.N. staff, in the northern city of Peshawar, U.N. agencies say.

Pakistan is grappling with one of the world's biggest humanitarian emergencies, with more than two million people uprooted by a military offensive to expel Taliban militants in the northwest Swat valley.

In the past few weeks, hundreds of aid groups have deployed in the volatile region to assist displaced civilians who need shelter, food, water and medicine.

On Wednesday, U.N. agencies issued statements saying five workers were among the nine people who died in the assault on the Pearl Continental hotel, a favourite with foreigners. Those killed were a Philippine woman who had worked for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) for 15 years, a Serbian man on his first emergency mission with the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and three Pakistani U.N. employees.

There have been media reports, including in Britain's Guardian and Financial Times newspapers, that the United Nations had ordered staff to evacuate from Peshawar.

But Manuel Bessler, head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Islamabad, told AlertNet the United Nations will not pull out from or scale down its activities in Peshawar, where it provides aid to about 200,000 displaced civilians.

"We are not even thinking about withdrawing or scaling down," he said. "We are fully involved in responding to the important humanitarian needs of the people, and we are convinced and committed to continue."

UNHCR says it has temporarily relocated many staff to Islamabad - about two hours' drive away - for rest and counselling in the wake of the attack, but is not evacuating its personnel. Some employees remain in Peshawar and aid operations are continuing.

"We have a lot of staff (there) - both national and international - and we have possibly millions of people in need, so we have to maintain our presence," said Peter Kessler, a London-based spokesperson for the agency.

UNICEF also said it has no intention of evacuating its staff or cutting back its programmes.

SAFETY REVIEW

Aid workers are struggling to deal with the massive scale of the crisis in Pakistan, where they face not only a severe shortage of funds but an increasingly insecure operating environment.

Under pressure from the sustained military offensive in the north, Taliban insurgents have vowed retaliation, and there has been a string of attacks across the country.

In the latest attack on the Peshawar hotel, where around a dozen U.N. staff were staying, militants shot their way into the forecourt and exploded a truck bomb in front of the lobby.

The United Nations has several hundred national and international staff working in Pakistan. Bessler said that, while their safety is of the utmost importance, U.N. agencies cannot afford to stop providing relief to those affected by the upsurge in fighting.

The United Nations is currently reassessing its security arrangements in Pakistan, and staff in the country, as well as at head offices in New York and Geneva, have been holding emergency meetings to discuss safety.

UNHCR has sent a team to Pakistan, including specialists in security and trauma, to explore what adjustments should be made to the way it works following the bombing. UNICEF is also considering how to improve safety.

"We are looking again - as much as one possibly can - to tighten security," said Patrick McCormick, UNICEF's deputy head of communications in New York. "But as we all know, the best security in the world is no defence against determined suicide bombers."

OCHA's Bessler said the United Nations wants the Pakistani government to help ensure the safety of its staff and operations. Potential measures include beefing up security personnel at distribution points and patrols in areas where aid groups are working.

"We are not looking for armed escorts, just an environment that allows for a more secure performance for the delivery of humanitarian assistance," he said.

(Additional reporting by Megan Rowling in London)

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