Foreign volunteers leave Kabul

Children surround the van of departing aid workers

International workers for two aid agencies have begun leaving Afghanistan under an ultimatum issued by the Taleban authorities.

Most have gone by road to Pakistan and the remainder are preparing to do so.

Six foreign workers of Partners in Aviation and Communications Technology have also left

Their departure comes a day after the Taleban ordered the two organisations, International Assistance Mission (IAM) and Serve, to close down their operations and leave within 72 hours.

No explanation was given, but the move follows the arrest last month of foreign and Afghan staff working for the Christian agency, Shelter Now International.

They face charges of preaching Christianity, which carries a possible death penalty under the Taleban's interpretation of Islamic law.

IAM and Serve

IAM, which runs two eye hospitals and several clinics, has been active in Afghanistan for more than 35 years. It has been operated by 50 mostly American expatriate workers.

Its foreign volunteers, most of them Pashtu and Persian speakers, have lived in Afghanistan with their families in some of the country's poorest neighbourhoods, without electricity or running water.

The BBC's Afghanistan correspondent Kate Clark says that IAM provides the best medical eye care in the country, taking surgeons and opticians with mobile clinics to the remotest districts so that people can get tests, glasses and simple operations.

It is also very highly regarded for its Aids work.

Serve, also a Christian organisation, is a smaller operation that provides solar panels as well as other shelter-related projects.

No surprise

The Taleban authorities had warned that they planned to expand their investigation of Shelter Now International to include other international aid organisations.

Six foreign workers of Partners in Aviation and Communications Technology, which is affiliated with IAM, have also left their offices in Kabul, saying it was "too dangerous to remain".

Earlier in the week, the Taleban said that the eight foreigners of Shelter Now International - two Americans, four Germans and two Australians - would go on trial for preaching Christianity.