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UN says raids hamper Afghan food deliveries
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was becoming increasing difficult to deliver crucial emergency relief in Afghanistan after two days of U.S.-led attacks on to the battle-scarred country.
The United Nations said on Tuesday it was becoming increasing difficult to deliver crucial emergency relief in Afghanistan after two days of US-led attacks on to the battle-scarred country.
UN spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker told a news conference the ruling Taliban were still denying aid workers access to outside communications and that four more relief vehicles, including three ambulances, had been seized. Additionally, shipments of UN World Food Program (WFP) food aid into Afghanistan, where up to six million people depend on handouts, were still suspended due to security fears over the military strikes.
The United States and Britain on Sunday launched air strikes against Taliban targets in retaliation for the September 11 suicide hijackings that killed thousands of people in New York and Washington.
But as winter edges nearer, the situation was becoming desperate in the mountainous country ravaged by conflict and drought, aid workers say.
"We're completely stuck, we feel very frustrated. We cannot do this prime job which is the delivery of food before the onset of winter," said Alex Renton, spokesman for British non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam.
Renton added security fears on the part of the Pakistani army had also hampered work on new refugee camps on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, being prepared in anticipation of up to a million Afghans expected to attempt to flee their country.
Witnesses in Kabul and other cities say Afghans continue to evacuate urban areas for the relative safety of the countryside.
Bureau Report
UN spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker told a news conference the ruling Taliban were still denying aid workers access to outside communications and that four more relief vehicles, including three ambulances, had been seized. Additionally, shipments of UN World Food Program (WFP) food aid into Afghanistan, where up to six million people depend on handouts, were still suspended due to security fears over the military strikes.
The United States and Britain on Sunday launched air strikes against Taliban targets in retaliation for the September 11 suicide hijackings that killed thousands of people in New York and Washington.
But as winter edges nearer, the situation was becoming desperate in the mountainous country ravaged by conflict and drought, aid workers say.
"We're completely stuck, we feel very frustrated. We cannot do this prime job which is the delivery of food before the onset of winter," said Alex Renton, spokesman for British non-governmental organization (NGO) Oxfam.
Renton added security fears on the part of the Pakistani army had also hampered work on new refugee camps on the Pakistan side of the Afghan border, being prepared in anticipation of up to a million Afghans expected to attempt to flee their country.
Witnesses in Kabul and other cities say Afghans continue to evacuate urban areas for the relative safety of the countryside.
Bureau Report