U.N. says imminent snowfalls will hamper aid efforts in Afghanistan

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press Writer

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Heavy snow will soon begin to fall in Afghanistan, blocking roads that are used to supply food to the hungry and homeless, U.N. officials warned Monday.

"Snowfall is imminent," said Lindsey Davis of the World Food Program. "Getting food in when you're trying to get trucks through those mountain passes is certainly a daunting challenge."

With no sign of a pause in U.S. bombing of Taliban positions across Afghanistan, the United Nations estimates 5.3 million Afghans are in need of immediate humanitarian aid ahead of the harsh winter.

U.N. officials are also concerned about operating in areas controlled by the ruling Taliban movement, citing security problems such as the Taliban seizure of U.N. vehicles in the southern city of Kandahar.

In Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, Taliban Ambassador Abdul Salam Zaeef said the only threat to U.N. operations was American bombing and that the U.N. complaint was politically motivated. The Taliban have accused the United Nations of collusion with Washington.

"We demand that the U.N. help the people of Afghanistan inside Afghan territory," Zaeef said.

U.N. spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker insisted that security concerns were sincere. "We're not playing politics," she said.

A measles vaccine program sponsored by UNICEF and the World Health Organization is under way in the Kandahar area. U.N. officials warned there is a lack of safe drinking water in the area because of a limited number of hand-pumped wells.

Davis said 55 U.N. trucks carrying 550 tons of food were on their way to northeast Afghanistan, including the Panjshir Valley, which is just north of the front line contested by Taliban and opposition forces.

"The fear is that with the worsening conditions, the window of time for (the trucks) to continue to operate is closing, slowly but surely," she said.

U.N. officials said they would use bulldozers to keep roads open for a few more weeks if possible and would resort to air drops of snow-proof bags of food as backup. The bags are black so they can be easily spotted in the snow.

U.S. military aircraft have been dropping food packets in Afghanistan, prompting complaints from humanitarian groups who say Afghan children might mistake unexploded cluster bomblets for food packets.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have fled the fighting and crossed into Pakistan, which has since closed its border despite protests from international aid organizations. Pakistan is already home to more than 2 million Afghan refugees, and says it does not have the resources to take in more.

AP-WS-11-05-01 1136EST