Afghanistan: Over 3,500 internally displaced people receive foodaid

On 17 September staff from the ICRC office in Mazar-i-Sharif distributed food aid to over 3,500 internally displaced people currently living in Amrach, approximately 100 km south of Mazar-i-Sharif, in a pocket controlled by the northern alliance and surrounded by Taliban forces. It was the first visit from a humanitarian organization in two years.

After obtaining the necessary permission from the Taliban and the northern alliance, the ICRC conducted a cross-line operation to assess the humanitarian situation in the area, which still shelters many people displaced by the past fighting in neighbouring Gosfandi and Sang-e-Charak districts. The ICRC later distributed food aid to the displaced (600 families registered in all), delivered supplies to a local first aid clinic and gave talks on international humanitarian law for those bearing weapons.