Kabul | Thursday
THOUSANDS of terrified Afghans have begun to flood into Pakistan, fleeing the twin spectres of famine and war haunting their homeland.
Despite Pakistan’s attempts to close its long border with Afghanistan, at least 15 000 refugees have made it into Pakistan in the last week alone.
Tens of thousands more are desperately trying to find a way out of a country whose lifelines to the outside world have been severed because of fears of a massive US military attack.
The withdrawal of international aid workers and the suspension of food supplies and UN flights into the country have left millions who currently depend on internationally provided food facing starvation.
The World Food Programme (WFP) has some 15 000 tonnes of stocks of food left inside the country, enough for a maximum of three weeks.
But the combined effect of a pull-out of international aid workers and a desperate scarcity of trucks to deliver the food to the most needy means a crisis could come even sooner.
“There are not walking skeletons in Afghanistan yet, thank God,” said WFP representative Khaled Mansour. “But we do have people eating grass and animal fodder and people who have sold everything they have to buy food.”
Most of the recent arrivals in Pakistan, the majority of them women and children, have crossed over in the past couple of days, according to UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) officials.
The movement has been concentrated in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan, which is opposite the Afghan city of Kandahar, from where up to 100 000 people are believed to have fled.
Kandahar is where Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in last week’s attacks on New York and Washington, has his main residence and is seen as a likely target if there is a US attack.
Some 5 000 are encamped at Chamman on the border opposite Kandahar. A convoy of trucks with 2 000 tents and 6 000 blankets was due to arrive in the area on Thursday from northwestern Pakistan, previously the main destination for refugees from Afghanistan.
UN flights were suspended from Tuesday after the ruling Taliban closed Afghanistan’s airspace. Most food is distributed by road but planes played a vital role in getting supplies to the more remote areas, as well as in medical evacuations and other emergencies.
The UN estimates that 1,1-million people — out of a population of 21 million — have left their homes either as a result of the food crisis or the past week’s events.
Pakistan already has some two million refugees from Afghanistan, all of whose neighbours have closed their borders to prevent a flood of refugees.
Those who have managed to sneak across the border have recounted tales of the ruling Taliban preparing for war, especially around their southern stronghold of Kandahar.
“The Taliban are very nervous and expect something to happen.
I’ve seen a lot of soldiers moving around,” said a refugee from Kabul who refused to be named.
“But they don’t look frightened, in fact a lot of them seem to be quite excited by the whole thing. They’re just ready for a big war.”
Abdul Razak (34) escaped from the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad — a known bin Laden hide-out — to Peshawar, a northwestern Pakistani town about 100 kilometers away with his wife and three children on Tuesday.
“There are a lot of Taliban in Jalalabad and anti-aircraft guns and tanks. We just wanted to get out as soon as possible.”
Rumours of the Taliban rounding up young men to fight a jihad, or holy war, against the United States have contributed to the exodus.
“I don’t know, people say they are recruiting youths; I am very worried about my son,” a government employee said in the capital Kabul.
“Nobody has asked him yet, but I am afraid if that is true.” – AFP