Afghan aid plane due to set off

A plane carrying the first humanitarian aid shipment to leave Britain for crisis-torn Afghanistan was due to take off tonight.

The DC8 cargo plane, chartered by the Department for International Development, was given clearance to land in Iran near to the Afghan border after being delayed last night.

It was expected to take off from London Manston Airport in Kent at 8.30pm this evening, bound for Mashhad in Iran.

The cargo plane, loaded with more than 400 tents capable of sheltering 15 to 20 people each, this afternoon gained permission from the Iranian authorities to land.

The shipment of 408 family-size tents weighing more than 40 tonnes is the first consignment of a £25 million aid package to leave Britain’s shores.

Britain has already helped UN agencies and provided aid locally to the region, which is facing a deepening refugee crisis.

With hundreds of thousands of Afghans fleeing their homes amid fears of US-led military strikes, the United Nations has warned that up to 7.5 million displaced people will need assistance both inside Afghanistan and in neighbouring countries.

Earlier yesterday, the first international food convoy to Afghanistan since the September 11 attacks arrived in the capital Kabul.

Eight trucks carrying 218 tons of wheat made the arduous two-day journey from Pakistan to the city, the World Food Programme said. The WFP normally feeds nearly two-thirds of Kabul’s one million people.