DATE=4/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AFGHANISTAN DROUGHT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261634
BYLINE=AYAZ GUL
DATELINE=ISLAMABAD
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: In Afghanistan, the worst drought in more than
half-a-century is said to have gripped several
southern provinces of the country. As Ayaz Gul reports
from neighboring Pakistan, the war-torn country's
dominant Taleban faction is seeking international aid
to save people in the famine-hit area.
TEXT: A Taleban spokesman (Abdul Haye Mutmaen) is
quoted as saying hundreds of thousands of people face
starvation in the provinces of Kandahar,
Helmund and Uruzgan because of a prolonged drought.
The spokesman tells the Pakistan based Afghan Islamic
Press agency that people in the famine-hit area do not
even have drinking water. He says they may die if aid
is not rushed to the region.
Taleban authorities have been supplying people daily
with food and water but they say their efforts may be
insufficient to avert - what they are calling - a
"looming tragedy."
The Taleban , which controls 90 percent of
Afghanistan, says it has formally launched an appeal
for emergency aid with the United Nations.
There is no immediate response available from the
world body to the Taleban appeal.
In another development, reports say locust swarms have
descended on drought-hit crops and fruit orchards in
northern parts of Afghanistan. The
anti-Taleban forces, who control the area, are said to
have called for
international assistance to tackle the problem.
In a statement early this month, the United Nations
had warned of a possible water emergency in the area
after an unusually dry winter. The
statement said the drought could result in crop
failure in southern Afghanistan, which is the
country's breadbasket.
U-N officials say they are assessing the drought
situation, which according to them is threatening not
just Afghanistan but parts of neighboring Pakistan and
India as well. (Signed)
NEB/AG/PLM
23-Apr-2000 07:05 AM EDT (23-Apr-2000 1105 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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