Taleban seize aid food and shut down UN communications

NEW YORK - The United Nations has warned Afghanistan will plunge into a crisis of "stunning proportions" after the Taleban militia took over vital foreign relief offices and cut off communications for most United Nations operations.

The Taleban, who control 95 per cent of Afghanistan, have shut down the UN communications network in Afghanistan, taken over the world body's office in Kandahar and seized 1,400 tons of food aid – about three weeks of provisions to have been distributed in southern Afghanistan by the World Food Program

"We urge a world wounded by the horrific and deplorable terrorist attacks of September 11 to be mindful of the principles of international humanitarian law and to take all measures to protect the civilian populations, especially the millions of children and women," six UN agencies with aid programs in Afghanistan said in a joint statement.

"A humanitarian crisis of stunning proportions is unfolding in Afghanistan," the agencies said, estimating that more than 5 million of Afghanistan's 26 million people were dependent on international aid to survive.

The agencies are the UN children's arm UNICEF, the World Food Program, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the UN Development Program, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Washington has accused the Taleban of hiding Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, whom the United States considers the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

Bin Laden has denied any involvement.

The Australian Associated Press reported today that the Taleban "has begun cracking down on foreign relief organisations in an apparent move to prevent spying".

The Taleban has also taken over UN and independent relief agency offices in the southern city of Kandahar, the report said.

While most foreign aid workers, including all UN expatriate staff, left Afghanistan last week for security reasons, the agencies said they were still able to provide some food and other services inside the country through Afghan nationals who continued to operate the programs in their absence.

But no more food can be delivered at this time, and the World Food Program predicted reserve supplies would be exhausted in two to three weeks.

The agencies offered special thanks to Pakistan and Iran, neighbouring nations that together have taken in some 3.5 million Afghans in recent years - refugees fleeing decades of war, three years of severe drought and a collapsed economy.

They also appealed to the international community for help in funding and carrying out efforts to supply needed food, water, medical and sanitation supplies, tents, and other emergency goods.

In the Pakistan capital, Islamabad, World Food Program spokesman Khaled Mansour told Reuters the Taleban moves against UN operations in Afghanistan threatened to "disrupt, if not completely stop, our food distribution."

While some 700 Afghan staffers have carried on with much of the world body's work since last week's departure of foreign workers, that activity too now appears to have stopped, UN spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker told a news conference in Islamabad.

"While some activities are going on, most UN activities have been disrupted or have ceased," Bunker said.

She said the UN office in Kandahar, spiritual capital of the Taleban, had been seized and the Taleban had also taken over some offices of non-governmental organisations that provide relief services.

Communications equipment was shut down in both Kandahar and the capital, Kabul, on Friday.

The United Nations has since asked for permission to use at least one high-frequency radio so that its representatives can stay in contact with the outside world, but it has had no reply.

- REUTERS, HERALD ONLINE STAFF

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