Thousands displaced around Tora Bora

Thousands of Afghan families have fled the Tora Bora mountains in eastern Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden and his followers are under intense air and ground attack. Most have taken refuge in the eastern city of Jalalabad, UN and aid workers said on Friday.

Medecins Sans Frontier (MSF) regional director Tim Pitt told IRIN that according to his information up to 2,000 families had arrived in Jalalabad by last week, to escape relentless bombing by coalition forces aimed at hunting down terror suspect Osama bin Laden and destroying his al-Qaeda force.

"We had a team in Jalalabad. We pulled them out because of security reasons...they said before bombing started about 500 families had come to Jalalabad," Pitt said, adding that by last week at least 2,000 families were in the city, under control of former mujahideen commander Haji Qadeer.

The mujahideen forces belonging to Eastern Shura - the local tribal militia which controls the three eastern provinces of Kunhar, Nangarhar and Laghman - are also raining artillery and mortar fire on al-Qaeda positions, making the area very dangerous for civilians.

Christine McNab, a UN spokesperson, told reporters in Kabul that several hundred families had moved away from Tora Bora and were reportedly staying with their relatives. It was not immediately known whether any of the Afghans from the Tora Bora region had come into Pakistan, which is near the border, and where the local authorities had stepped up monitoring by soldiers and police to prevent Osama bin Laden or his al-Qaeda fighters from crossing into the country illegally.

Aid workers believe that heavy snow and ongoing conflict in the area has added to the plight of the Afghans there. Both WHO and other UN agencies were trying to assist the internally displaced people in the region, Eric Falt, director of UNIC, told reporters in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Thursday.

However, relief work continues to be hampered by lack of security in the region. An MSF team will return to Jalalabad once security conditions there improve, Pitt said. MSF pulled out of the area earlier this month when the US campaign against Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban shifted to the Tora Bora region.