BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Food aid reaches Jalalabad

Aid provided by a British Muslim group near Torkham

Convoys of food aid are getting into Afghanistan along the road from Pakistan towards the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

At the major border crossing between the two countries at Torkham there were also several small busloads of Afghans returning home at the customs post during the morning, even though the crossing is all but closed.

Dozens of trucks piled high with sacks of wheat and flour crossed the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan, some of which were sent by Muslims from Britain.

Otherwise, the border post was comparatively quiet. Traffic along the road towards Jalalabad was fairly thin, but truckloads of Afghan pomegranates were making their way to markets in Pakistan.

Refugees' plea

The road appeared peaceful, but military posts could be seen that had been directly hit by the American bombardment.

Just to the east of Jalalabad, there is a camp for internally displaced Afghans that has grown by several thousand since the bombardment began.

Most of them have come from the capital Kabul but others have arrived from Kandahar and Jalalabad itself.

The refugees said they had received some aid, but that they needed more. They also said that those who could afford to flee to Pakistan had done so several weeks ago.