Afghan situation no worse - World Food Programme

The World Food Programme (WFP) today claimed that the food situation in Afghanistan was no worse now than before the war on terrorism.

Spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said she was ‘‘not convinced’’ that a suspension of the bombing would help aid agencies.

‘‘One has to remember that working in Afghanistan has always been difficult, before September 11 as well as after,’’ she said.

‘‘We have always had problems there because of the war and the drought. Before the war on terrorism there were already one million displaced people.’’

The WFP, a United Nations agency, hoped to have 30,000 tonnes of food in the country by the end of the month, compared with last year’s 20-25,000 tonnes.

‘‘Of course it is not easy at the moment, because we do not have enough staff inside Afghanistan because the international staff had to leave.

‘‘We have 350 local people working there and we told them that we wanted them to carry on, but that they must put their safety first.

‘‘We also don’t have contact with our staff as some of them have been told by the Taliban not to communicate with the outside world.’’

But Ms Berthiaume said that, despite a two-week hiatus after September 11 and another break of a few days after the bombing started, many aid lorries had been reaching their destinations.

‘‘I am not convinced that we would be able to bring more food in if the bombing halted,’’ she added.

‘‘The situation is bad - it is very, very bad - but it has been so for years.

‘‘Obviously we understand the concerns, but everything has to be put in perspective a little bit.’’