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Wednesday, 3 October, 2001, 11:51 GMT 12:51 UK
More aid reaches Kabul
A quarter of Afghans are thought to depend on food aid
A convoy of supply trucks from foreign aid agencies reached the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday morning.
About a dozen vehicles drove into the city with supplies from the United Nations Children's Fund, Unicef, and the World Food Programme (WFP). It was the second convoy to reach Kabul this week. The WFP delivered a consignment of wheat on Monday.
The aircraft carrying the supplies delivered more than 400 tents capable of sheltering up to 20 people each. "The convoys came without any problem. The Taleban are fully co-operating with us at the distribution sites," said Yosuf Yosufzai of the World Food Programme in Kabul.
UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Kenzo Oshima told reporters in Mashhad that, with the onset of cold weather, the situation of displaced Afghans was becoming critical. "With winter coming soon, the international humanitarian community needs to act quickly," he said. He called on Iran and Afghanistan's other neighbours to open their borders to any new refugees. Iran, which is already host to around two million Afghans, has instead offered to help set up camps for refugees on the Afghan side of the border. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said a plane carrying 45 tonnes of blankets and plastic sheets had arrived in Peshawar, Pakistan. The shipment was sent in case more camps needed to be set up there. Earlier, the first of eight shipments of Russian relief supplies arrived in Tajikistan, also for distribution in northern Afghanistan.
Click here for map of refugee movements More winter supplies from Unicef, sent by truck and on the backs of more than 4,000 donkeys, were on the way, officials said. A convoy of trucks carrying 200 tonnes of aid has left the Turkmenistan capital, Ashkhabad, for northern Afghanistan.
It will deliver the aid to some 90,000 people living in camps there, close to the Turkmenistan border. Further flights carrying UK aid are expected to leave in the next few days for Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Delivery difficulties For nearly three weeks after the attacks on New York and Washington, the United Nations was unable to get any aid in to Afghanistan because of the security risk and transport problems.
Aid agencies are gearing up for what they expect to be a massive flight of Afghans into neighbouring countries. One million are expected to go to Pakistan, 400,000 to Iran and 100,000 to neighbouring central Asian republics in the event of American military action. In any event, agencies fear the bitter winter conditions will force huge numbers of hungry Afghans from their country. |
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