Convoy Leaves for Eastern Afghanistan While Aid Continues in North

An IRC convoy carrying 237 metric tons of beans, sugar and cooking oil leaves Peshawar, Pakistan,  on Saturday for two areas of Paktia Province in eastern Afghanistan. 

The IRC’s food-aid coordinator, Adil Al Mahi, says the commodities will be distributed over the coming week to 3,162 vulnerable families in underserved areas of Gardez and Zarmund.  He said last week’s delivery of 250 metric tons of food to districts in eastern Nangarhar Province went very smoothly.

Meanwhile, the IRC’s assistance to newly displaced families in the Kabul area continues.  Program manager Haneef Atmar reports that the IRC has provided 1,110 bomb-affected families with emergency supplies, such as blankets and hygiene kits, and a three-month supply of food.

An IRC food convoy also arrived in Herat last weekend and with the expected arrival of additional commodities in the coming days, the IRC will begin delivering the food items to displaced-person settlements next week. 

In and around the northern city of Mazar, the IRC completed distribution of an additional 1,185 metric tons of wheat that was supplied by the World Food Program. Al Mahi says WFP is to deliver another 2,524 metric tons of wheat any day and that IRC staff in the region are set to distribute the grain to four particularly needy districts in outlying areas of Mazar. 

Idrees Rahami, acting field coordinator in Mazar, also reports that the IRC has distributed stoves and coal to 5,000 families at the IRC-managed Sahki Camp out of a targeted 20,000 families in the region.  He also reports that IRC staff in Mazar are beginning a shelter improvement project at Sakhi Camp to help displaced families survive the cold winter.