WFP ISSUES URGENT APPEAL TO TALIBAN AUTHORITIES TO ALLOW FOOD AID DELIVERIES TO NORTH-CENTRAL AFGHANISTAN

24 November 1997

Press Release
WFP/1047

WFP ISSUES URGENT APPEAL TO TALIBAN AUTHORITIES TO ALLOW FOOD AID DELIVERIES TO NORTH-CENTRAL AFGHANISTAN

19971124 ROME, 24 November (WFP) -- The Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Catherine Bertini, has made a "last and most urgent appeal" to Taliban authorities to allow deliveries of emergency food aid to Bamyan in north-central Afghanistan where many inhabitants are on the verge of starvation, the WFP said today.

In a letter sent Friday, 21 November, to Mullah Muhammad Omar Mujahid, head of the Taliban Movement, in Kandahar, Afghanistan, Ms. Bertini expressed "shock and deepest disappointment" at the refusal by Taliban authorities to give the WFP access to the region, which Taliban forces have blockaded since 4 May.

Ms. Bertini warned that with winter fast approaching, "the situation is becoming critical". She said all 1.2 million inhabitants are suffering from the lack of adequate food and about 160,000 of them face starvation unless aid arrives immediately.

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