US wheat for Afghan refugees

The United States says it is donating 75,000 tons of wheat in emergency food aid to Afghans refugees.

The wheat is worth about $34m and will be sent to Afghans displaced by the conflict in their country, and the continuing drought.

A State Department spokesman ,Richard Boucher, said the US would continue to monitor the situation closely, and would consider more assistance if necessary.

The donation of wheat follows an emergency appeal by the World Food Programme, which warned that thousands of Afghans were facing starvation because of the drought.

Earlier, the United Nations had reported that at least 110 refugees sheltering in camps in western Afghanistan had died in one night, as the temperature there fell to -25C.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service