UN emergency appeal for Afghanistan

The United Nations has launched an emergency appeal to help drought-stricken Afghanistan.

Speaking in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the Acting Co-ordinator for the UN's humanitarian mission to Afghanistan, Ahmad Farah, called for sixty-seven million dollars for drought relief.

Most of it will go on food aid and the provision of drinking water.

Farmers and nomads will be given seed, fodder and veterinary help for livestock so they can keep some of their animals alive.

The BBC Kabul Correspondent says the drought, which has badly affected parts of Iran, Pakistan and India, has hit the war-shattered Afghan economy hard, leaving many farmers surviving on bread and tea.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service