- guardian.co.uk, Sunday October 21 2001 00.59 BST
According to the United Nations, 7.5 million people face starvation in Afghanistan, because of the severe food shortages and the onset of winter. In Hazarajat region, north-west of Kabul, there are now 400,000 people without food. The scale of the humanitarian disaster could easily destroy what political support the US has across Muslim world.
Has the humanitarian crisis been brought on by the bombing?
Afghanistan has suffered 20 years of war, and people in many areas were already close to starving. Christian Aid has said that 600 people died in one mountain district of Afghanistan two months ago, before the attacks started. Two million Afghans had already fled to Pakistan before 11 September and live in border refugee camps, with another 1.5 million in Iran. The bombing, by disrupting aid flows to remote regions in the critical period before the winter, has made the scale of the crisis far worse.
Was enough aid being delivered?
The UN's World Food Programme estimate that 52,000 tonnes of food a month are needed in order to stock up for winter. However, 15,000 tonnes has arrived in the past three weeks. While this might prevent people starving at the moment, it means that hundreds of thousands will not be able to build up sufficient supplies to last them through the winter, when they are cut off from the outside world by snow.
Is the bombing stopping aid deliveries?
Aid agencies have said their lorry drivers are too scared to drive into Afghanistan to deliver aid while the bombs are falling. In one US attack, four Red Cross workers were killed. Oxfam said that halting the bombing would be the only way to get aid to remote rural communities. However, Clare Short, the UK's International Development Secretary, insisted that the UN's World Food Programme distribution systems were holding up, with about 1,000 tonnes a day arriving. That is set to rise to 1,700 tonnes a day.
Are the Taliban hindering the delivery of aid?
Aid agencies report that more food leaves the depots at the border of Afghanistan than arrive at the cities - suggesting it is being looted en route. The Taliban have also been charging high taxes on incoming supplies. Last week Taliban troops raided warehouses in several cities for food and medical supplies intended for civilians, while Human Rights Watch has recorded five other raids on relief workers. The Taliban said the attacks were the result of a misunderstanding, and appealed for more foreign aid. The Taliban's expulsion of all foreign aid workers means that it is now just Afghan aid workers that are distributing food around the country.
Can't you deliver aid by plane?
The US has dropped about 40,000 single meal packets into Afghanistan, including barley stew, rice, shortbread and peanut butter. Aid agencies have dismissed it as a PR gimmick, saying the amount of aid is hopelessly small compared to the scale of the problem.
Why won't the US and Britain pause the bombing so aid can be delivered?
The UK and US governments both believe that although stopping the bombing may provide short-term relief, it will enable the Taliban to retrench and fortify, thus prolonging the war. Clare Short said last week that the only solution to the humanitarian crisis is to drive the Taliban from power - insisting that the reason people are in such need is because of the Taliban. For the same reason, Oxfam has said that although it was calling for a pause in the bombing, it was doing so reluctantly.
Can't the US just stop bombing and use ground troops?
This might allow the full resumption of aid to remote regions if it meant that territory could be taken away from Taliban control, making it easier to distribute relief. However, it could also make half the country rise up, spreading fighting across the nation. Even in the Northern Alliance held areas, aid is difficult to deliver, with their fighters having a long track record of looting aid.
