100,000 Afghan Children Face Starvation, UNICEF Warns

ROME, OCT. 16, 2001 (Zenit.org).- More than 100,000 Afghan children will die of starvation if dwindling food reserves are not restocked, UNICEF warned today.

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Food reserves will be depleted in six weeks, the U.N. agency said as it monitored the plight of refugees in the wake of Allied bombings of Afghanistan. The bombings are in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

U.N. spokeswoman Jean Ziegler said the United States´ food air-drops in Afghanistan are being collected by Afghan militias, so the Americans in effect “are feeding the Taliban.”

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees continues to appeal for funds from the international community. On Monday, the European Union donated $25 million, the remaining portion of an original allocation of $50 million.

The goal is that the international community share the expenses “of this emergency with states bordering on Afghanistan, which have already made enormous sacrifices,” the U.N.´s refugees office explained.

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ZENIT Staff

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