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| March 7, 2005 Release Number: 05-03-06 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SUMMARY OF COALITION WINTER RELIEF TO AFGHANS KABUL, Afghanistan - Over the past several months, members of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan have been helping Afghans cope with one of the coldest winters on record by delivering humanitarian aid throughout the country. Following is a brief summary of those events: Feb. 4 Coalition forces flew World Health Organization and United Nations officials from Kandahar on Feb. 4 in response to a whooping cough outbreak in Herat and Ghor provinces that claimed the lives of over 20 people, many of them children. Coalition forces also provided aerial delivery of medical supplies and transported medical teams from WHO to administer the medicine to villagers. Feb. 10 Coalition forces from Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, Uzbekistan, delivered a much-needed air drop of supplies to the village of Shinkay in Zabul Province Feb. 10. An Ohio National Guard C-130 Hercules traveled more than 1,200 kilometers to air drop eight packages of humanitarian-assistance supplies to a Coalition civil affairs team waiting on the ground below. The packages contained 3,000 kilograms of beans, 3,000 kilograms of rice and 400 blankets. Elders and leaders of the village of Shinkay identified the neediest families in the village and the items were passed out to those individuals. Local Afghan National Army Soldiers, Afghan Security Forces and some of the local villagers helped the civil affairs team to recover the bags of beans and rice and the blankets and load them onto a truck for transportation and distribution. Feb. 16 Members of the Jalalabad Provincial Reconstruction Team and the Afghan National Army traveled to the Tora Bora Mountains to provide humanitarian aid to villagers who are suffering due to heavy snowfall. Trudging through snow that was waist-deep at many points, the PRT members delivered blankets, coats and tarps to 300 Afghan families that have been affected by deep snow and freezing temperatures. Additionally, representatives from the United Nations World Food Program delivered 35 metric tons of wheat, cooking oil and salt to the Merkhani area. Feb. 16, 20 Combined Forces Command - Afghanistan and International Security Assistance Force joined together to fly medical personnel and supplies to Badakshan Province. The airlift started on Thursday, February 16, when ISAF provided the first leg of airlift support aboard a Portuguese-ISAF C-130 Hercules from Kabul Afghanistan International Airport up to Feyzabad. The cargo aircraft carried two medical teams from the Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health, including doctors and more than 3000 kilograms or three tons of medical supplies. Bad weather interrupted the airlift and the doctors and supplies remained in Feyzebad for several days. On February 20, two Coalition helicopters continued the airlift and flew up to Badakhshan Province, near the Tajikistan border. The medical teams and supplies were dropped at two remote villages, Qala-i-Kuf and Qala-I-Shekai, in the Darwaz area. Feb. 16 Forty Soldiers and Airmen traveled over 30 miles in a 16-vehicle convoy into the Afghan mountains to deliver humanitarian aid to two snowbound villages. This relief mission was organized and led by the Army's Parwan Provincial Reconstruction Team and delivered enough blankets, clothes, food and medicine for 2,700 households. The Parwan PRT provides humanitarian aid throughout the province as needed. During this winter season, that has resulted in an average of three missions per month. Normally, the Parwan PRT offers aid and medical assistance about once a month but because of the severe weather four have been completed in the last two weeks. The team distributed about 1,500 pounds of clothing and 1,000 pounds of school supplies and toys in support of the effort. Feb. 16 In response to the needs of citizens of Kharwar District in Logar Province who were isolated by the heavy snowfall, Soldiers from the Gardez Provincial Reconstruction Team coordinated several humanitarian visits. Members of the Gardez PRT delivered food and blankets to Kharwar village, which was isolated from surrounding districts for three weeks due to snow accumulations up to 30 feet deep. On Feb. 7, the Afghan Ministry of Defense flew a team of Afghan physicians and medical supplies to Kharwar. The PRT had made several attempts to reach Kharwar by road and by air to deliver more supplies, but it was unable to reach the district due to the weather. On Feb. 16, a team of 13 Soldiers from the PRT traveled to Kharwar via CH-47 Chinook helicopter and delivered several pallets of blankets and food supplies. Feb. 18 In an operation called "Operation Bear's Paw," Coalition Soldiers used vehicles and helicopters to carry emergency supplies to the southeastern Afghanistan province of Zabul during a continual deluge of severe weather that has pounded the province since early January. The supplies were purchased with U.S. Military Commander's Emergency Relief Project funds or provided by relief organizations. Soldiers distributed over 2,056 food packages. Each package includes 100-lb. bags of flour, rice and beans, bags of sugar and salt, and containers of oil. The distribution of supplies required over 100 helicopter flights delivering enough food to feed 82,000 people for 10 days-approximately one-third of Zabol Province's population. Ninety percent of that population lives in rural villages currently inaccessible by vehicles. Feb. 22 With the generosity of people in the United States, Coalition troops here distributed supplies to 30 Afghan families. Beginning in November, members of the 105th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, deployed from Kansas and Oklahoma, received donations from their families and churches back home. More than 30 boxes of supplies including toiletries, clothing, food, toys, school supplies and blankets were received in the succeeding months. -30- |
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