Fleeing Afghans stuck at border

Afghan refugees with official documents are stuck at Towr Kham on the Afghan side of the border between Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, following Monday's closure by Pakistani authorities of the border with Afghanistan. "We have been stuck here for two days and they won't let us through," Biralai, aged 35, told IRIN, as he showed his passport and other official papers.

Biralai had been living in Peshawar, the capital of the NWFP, for the past 10 years, and was visiting the Afghan capital, Kabul, to attend a funeral together with his wife and sister-in-law. However, he is now unable to cross back into Pakistan, where his three children and other family members are waiting for him.

Border guards were under strict instructions not to allow anyone back into the country, regardless of whether or not they had documents, a Pakistani senior official told IRIN. "We have done this in the interests of security for the people of Pakistan."

Mohammad Zahir, an elderly Afghan refugee, who had also been living in Peshawar for several years, said he had gone to Kabul to check on his property, but was now stuck on the Afghan side of the border. He added that he had left relatives behind in the Afghan capital, and was now worried about their safety. Numbers of refugees at Pakistan/Afghan border crossing points are said to be increasing daily, with at least 2,000 stuck at Towr Kham, according to UN sources.

People are said to be fleeing in thousands from Afghanistan's cities towards neighbouring Iran and Pakistan. A quarter of the population of Kabul and half the population of the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, the political hub for the ruling Taliban, are said to have evacuated.

Some young supporters of the Taliban are among those escaping. Hedayat Khan, a teenager wearing Taliban-style headgear, has recently arrived from Kabul. "People are confused, we don't really know what will happen," he said. Refugees also told IRIN that the Taliban was stopping men from leaving cities, saying they must stay to defend their homeland in the event of an attack by the US.

UNHCR was informed by Pakistan's government on Monday that 5,000 Afghans were at the Afghan side of the border at Chaman, about 100 km northwest of the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta. UNHCR is having discussions with the authorities and hopes the Afghans will be allowed in. UNHCR is asking the authorities to allow any new arrivals to be sheltered in existing camp facilities where adequate water and other facilities can be more quickly established. As an emergency measure, UNHCR is sending 2,000 tents to Quetta from its stocks in Peshawar. UNHCR has a total of 9,300 tents in Pakistan, enough for more than 50,000 people.

Meanwhile, NGOs worldwide have warned the West of the consequences of becoming involved in "all-out war", and pledged to assist people in areas which could be singled out for US attacks. Chris Buckley, the programme officer for Afghanistan of the UK-based Christian Aid organisation, voiced concern over the way in which Afghans had been left to cope. "At this time it is really important for western governments to increase their aid and support for the people of Afghanistan, millions of whom will still be unaware of the tragic events in the United States last week," Buckley said in a statement. UNHCR is sending emergency staff to Pakistan and Iran in preparation for what could become a major influx of Afghan refugees into those countries.