Taliban reneges on food mission

ISLAMABAD, NOV 26: The World Food Programme (WFP) was scrambling yesterday to find new ways to get food to hungry people in Afghanistan's c...

ISLAMABAD, NOV 26: The World Food Programme (WFP) was scrambling yesterday to find new ways to get food to hungry people in Afghanistan’s central Bamyan province after Taliban religious army backtracked on an early promise of safe passage through its territory. Controlled by the Taliban’s Shiite Muslim enemies, an estimated 600,000 people in Bamyan face a bleak winter with very little food.

It’s not clear why the Taliban changed its mind, WFP Regionsl Director said.The WFP had hoped it could move food to Bamyan through Taliban-controlled areas.

But after a day of negotiations the Taliban said no.

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“We thought we were there for a very happy mission then it all went sour suddenly . . . It seems that they had a change of heart overnight,” Bronek Szynalski, WFP Regional Director said.

On Sunday the WFP had received a letter from the Taliban Governor in Kandahar giving the go ahead to move emergency food aid to Bamyan.

WFP officials arrived in Kandahar last morning believing the deal was struck and all that remained was to decide the details of how to move the food convoys and how to distribute the food to the neediest once it arrived in Bamyan, said Szynalski.

He said, “It was a discussion between deaf people. . . There was no explanation. ”