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| Afghanistan |
| Talibs allow grocery distribution in Kabul |
| 2001-10-27 |
Some relief for Kabul's hungry came when a Canadian-based Islamic charity, the International Relief Agency, distributed bags of flour in front of a mosque in the heart of the city. Old men, the destitute, and widows lined up for their share. Small children played atop the bags until Taliban soldiers shooed them away. The charity said 220 sacks were distributed. But it was of little comfort to some despairing Kabul residents. "I don't care if I die, because we have nothing,'' said Fazl Karim. "No power, no food, nothing. The poorest people are living here.'' Karim is a nurse at Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan Hospital, whose location has become a curse to doctors and patients alike. "All night it was very bad,'' said Dr. Mohammed Ullah. He said two victims of the bombing were brought to his hospital, where only one kerosene lamp was available for light through the black night in Kabul, where electricity is shut off around 9 p.m. One man died from shrapnel wounds, another from a bullet that hit him when he went on his rooftop to watch tracer fire light up the night sky, said Ullah. It was unclear where the bullet came from. The hospital's 180 patients were moved from their beds to the basement and the first floor. An appendectomy had to be postponed Friday, he said, because there was no electricity and the generator could not be started. "We don't know when this will stop,'' he said. "We pray it will be soon.'' |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |