BBC News Online: World: South Asia

UN braced for refugee flood

Afghan refugees mass at the Pakistani border

Thousands of people are already fleeing Afghanistan as the military build-up against the ruling Taleban gathers pace.

Officials from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Pakistan are surveying 75 possible sites near the Afghan border for new refugee camps.

And the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has announced plans to resume deliveries of food aid into Afghanistan from Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

The Americans are demanding that Osama Bin Laden - chief suspect behind the attacks in New York and Washington - be handed over unconditionally, but the Taleban have refused.

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Refugees in Pakistan report chaos in Kabul as people rush to escape the expected attacks.

Thousands are also fleeing other areas they believe might be a US target, such as the Taleban stronghold of Kandahar in the south.

Border stays closed

The UNHCR is pressing for refugees to be allowed into Pakistan, and thousands headed for a border crossing near Quetta after rumours that it was to be opened.

They hope to have the first new refugee camp up and running within 10 days.

But the Pakistani Government says that, for the moment, the border will remain closed.

The United Nations is planning an international appeal to raise funds for the refugees and officials say it will be one of the largest appeals in the organisation's history.

In an effort to prevent starvation among refugees, the WFP has agreed to resume food shipments to northern and western Afghanistan on a trial basis for the first time since the attacks on New York and Washington.

The agency says that on Monday, Taleban officials seized 1,400 tonnes of food from a WFP office inside Afghanistan.

But it says, despite this, shipments will now resume to those areas where security is relatively stable, local transport is available and aid workers are present on the ground to oversee distribution.

The WFP estimates that about 1.6 million Afghans will run out of food if they do not receive additional supplies.

"Our local staff together with aid workers from various NGOs (non-governmental organisations) will continue to work under extremely difficult conditions to help avoid starvation in Afghanistan," said Khaled Adly, WFP regional director for West Asia and the Middle East.

Aid agencies are pressing Pakistan to reopen the border to relieve the growing pressure as thousands of Afghans try to escape.

"We believe there could be around 5,000 to 10,000 people out in the open on the Afghan side of the border and possibly a similar number sheltering in the bazaar," said UNHCR spokesman Rupert Colville.

The BBC's Susannah Price in Islamabad says Pakistani officials will closely screen all new arrivals and keep them confined to camps as near the border as possible, so they can be easily repatriated once the situation improves.

Tight security is in place for the new camps - they are reportedly surrounded by barbed wire to restrict the movement of refugees.

There are an estimated 3.5 million Afghan refugees already living in Iran and Pakistan and at least a million more displaced inside Afghanistan.

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