Fighting in northeast Afghanistan forces thousands to flee to Pakistan: UNHCR
20 October -- Amid reports of intense fighting between the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance in northeast Afghanistan, thousands of people from the area continued to stream into Pakistan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said today.
A UNHCR spokesperson told the press in Geneva that more than 2,600 Afghans had crossed into Pakistan at the Torkham border post this week, bringing the number of Afghans who had sought asylum in Pakistan in recent weeks to nearly 23,000.
Spokesperson Delphine Marie said that at Torkham, UNHCR monitors had reported an average of 500 border crossings in the past three days. "An increasing number of the new arrivals proceed to Pakistan's urban centres to join relatives and friends," Ms. Marie said.
Last week, UNHCR transferred nearly 8,000 refugees from a transit centre in Jallozi, Pakistan, to a refugee village called New Shamshatoo. But according to Ms. Marie, "no sooner had they been shifted than some 1,550 newcomers moved in to take their place in Jallozai." Conditions are better at the New Shamshatoo village, where the UN World Food Programme is providing wheat and cooking oil to the refugees.
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