QUETTA, Oct 31: Armed Taliban soldiers on Wednesday took over a field office run by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the southern Afghan border town of Spin Boldak, a UN official said.

UNHCR spokesman Yusuf Hassan said the soldiers took control of the office without warning, seriously compromising the world body’s efforts to repatriate refugees from Pakistan.

“We were told about 10am this morning that armed Taliban men had come in and taken it over,” he said at a press conference.

He said the UNHCR building housed a field office which was used for a number of projects including provision for water and shelter for Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan.

“It is going to make our work very, very difficult,” he said.—AFP