Aid agencies call for pause in bombing campaign

Aid agencies today renewed their call on the British Government for a ‘‘humanitarian pause’’ in the bombing of Afghanistan because vital aid must reach refugees within two weeks.

The British Government should be exploring ways of working with the Taliban and the Northern Alliance to help avert near certain death from disease and starvation facing approximately five million refugees, they said.

Representatives from Christian Aid, Islamic Relief and Save the Children told the House of Commons International Development select committee that they were currently unable to respond adequately to the urgency of the situation.

Trying to reach an agreement with the Taliban and the Northern Alliance was ‘‘worth trying in light of the urgency and severity of the situation’’, Dr Daleep Mukarji, Christian Aid director said.

With the fierce Afghan winter pending and making many routes impassable and the certain duration of the military campaign, time is running out, the agencies warned.

‘‘We have got about a two week window of opportunity,’’ Dr Mukarji said.

‘‘We are not getting in adequate supplied of food, medicines, blankets and other health-care necessities. We are also not able to distribute it.

‘‘We are talking about a humanitarian crisis where a large number of people are going to suffer because of the drought, lack of food and other supplies.

‘‘We urge the British Government, the international community and all parties in the operations to find a mechanism or a safe space through the UN so we can go in and distribute before the winter.’’

The agencies say the air strikes have strangled the flow of much-needed food supplies and frustrated their attempts to set up their own appeals.

Less than 25% of the food needed to feed Afghans inside the country is currently getting through.

Approximately 5.2 million people were receiving World Food Programme aid before the air strikes, but as many as eight million people may now be needing this help, the agencies said.

A pause in the bombing and arrangements with the Taliban and Northern Alliance could enable aid to trickle through in a range of ways.

This could occur through special corridors where aid could be dropped off, although this may be difficult because Afghanistan does not have a well developed infrastructure of roads and is largely desert.

Safe havens could also be set up by the agencies, but there would need to be care that this did not further encourage the internal displacement of refugees and create permanent settlements.

Sakandar Ali, of Islamic Relief, told the committee: ‘‘To us these options exist. We are approaching winter and something needs to be done fairly swiftly.’’

More than 500,000 Afghans are believed to have abandoned their homes but only 65,000 have crossed international borders.

There is very little shelter and many refugees have moved to the provinces aware that many areas along the Pakistan border are closed.

Air drops prove ‘‘ineffective’’ because those who need it most, such as the elderly and the young, do not get them, the agencies say.