Uzbekistan to partially open border
with Afghanistan to help relief efforts
By Kendra Helmer, Stars
and Stripes
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan — For the first time in five years, Uzbekistan has agreed to
partially open its border with Afghanistan, government officials announced Thursday.
The limited border opening will allow U.N. humanitarian aid workers to begin helping
the estimated tens of thousands of Afghan refugees. As many as 100,000 children could die
during the coming winter if no relief is supplied, one relief organization stated.
A U.N. team was scheduled to fly to the border city of Termez on Thursday, where a
river divides the two countries, to determine what capabilities are on the ground, said
Kenzo Oshima, U.N. humanitarian affairs coordinator.
U.N. and Uzbek officials have not determined when the border will open but expect
limited relief shipments could cross over to Afghanistan in the coming weeks.
The border was shut in 1997 after the Taliban captured the northern Afghan city of
Mazar-e-Sharif, 38 miles south of Termez. Intense fighting continues in the city, where
U.S. jets have pounded area in its bombing campaign.
By reopening the port at Termez, barges loaded with relief supplies can cross the Amu
Darya River into Afghanistan.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov also agreed to open the Termez airport for direct flights
to supply relief agencies and allow them to stockpile supplies headed for Afghanistan.
"Our humanitarian effort is continuing to gather steam," said Oshima, who
heads a delegation of senior representatives from agencies including the U.N.
Children’s Fund, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food
Programme.
The delegation also visited Turkmenistan, whose government stated its commitment to
allow aid workers to visit border areas. After leaving Uzbekistan, the team was to fly to
Tajikistan.
As winter approaches, aid workers are concerned about getting food and supplies to
Afghans before snow renders northern routes into Afghanistan impassable.
"It is our job to get as much food and relief items into the country as we
can," Oshima said.
It is "in the best interest of" Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan
"to facilitate the work of the United Nations," Oshima said.
An estimated 5 million to 6 million Afghans are receiving humanitarian assistance as a
result of 22 years of war and three years of severe drought. Thousands more are displaced
from their homes each day by the conflict between the Taliban and the United Front, as
well as the U.S. airstrikes.
"There is going to be a crisis. The issue is how much we can reduce its
dimensions," said Nigel Fisher, south Asia regional director for the United Nations
Children’s Fund. "In a worst-case scenario we say easily that 100,000 kids could
die this winter."
Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services contributed to this report.
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