UN Says Drought-Related Disease Kills 137 Afghans
October 3, 2000 - 0:0
TEHRAN Drought-related hunger and cholera have killed 137 people in war-ravaged Afghanistan, the United Nations said on Monday as quoted by Reuters in Kabul.
The worst drought in three decades has hit more than half of Afghanistan's 23 million population, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their villages.
A UN report released in Kabul quoted aid agencies as saying that 60 people died in the northern provinces of Sari Pul and Jowzjan 50 in Ghormach district of Badghis Province because of cholera, which had also reportedly killed 90 other people in the same area two weeks ago.
It documented 27 deaths from hunger in the opposition-held enclave of Dara-i-Souf in central Afghanistan where, it said, many families lived on wild vegetables for survival.
The enclave is under a prolonged siege by the forces of the ruling Taleban movement, which the report said had caused a sharp rise in food prices in the area.
The worst drought in three decades has hit more than half of Afghanistan's 23 million population, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their villages.
A UN report released in Kabul quoted aid agencies as saying that 60 people died in the northern provinces of Sari Pul and Jowzjan 50 in Ghormach district of Badghis Province because of cholera, which had also reportedly killed 90 other people in the same area two weeks ago.
It documented 27 deaths from hunger in the opposition-held enclave of Dara-i-Souf in central Afghanistan where, it said, many families lived on wild vegetables for survival.
The enclave is under a prolonged siege by the forces of the ruling Taleban movement, which the report said had caused a sharp rise in food prices in the area.