AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: AFGHAN REFUGEES FLEE CIVIL UNREST IN THEIR COUNTRY AND RECEIVE FOOD AND MEDICINE IN PAKISTAN.

Record ID: 274835

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN: AFGHAN REFUGEES FLEE CIVIL UNREST IN THEIR COUNTRY AND RECEIVE FOOD AND MEDICINE IN PAKISTAN.
  • Date: 18th October 1979
  • Summary: 1. SV Medicine supplies being carried into courtyard where refugees are waiting to receive them 0.11 2. LV Afghan chief of relief work distributing supplies to refugees 0.26 3. SV Refugees sitting down 0.32 4. LV Supplies being handed out to refugees 0.37 5. SV Chief or relief work addressing refugees 0.50 6. CU Chief of relief wor
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 1979 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: AFGHANISTAN/PAKISTAN BORDER
  • City:
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Reuters ID: LVABBVXLP07WN5PAL89NT65Z8M37
  • Story Text: In Afghanistan government forces have crushed a rebellion at the headquarters of the army's Seventh Infantry Division outside Kabul. Diplomatic sources in the capital said that several hundred soldiers were killed in the fighting which began on Sunday night and continued all day Monday. This uprising is believed to have been the fourth army mutiny in Afghanistan this year, and is being viewed as the most serious threat so far to the new government of Hafizullah Amin. Amin came to power last month after a coup which toppled former President Mohammad Tarakki. Added to the problem of maintaining discipline within the army, the new government also has to contend with a growing revolt by Moslems against its pro-Communist regime. Now in Eastern Afghanistan, many of the roads to Pakistan have been closed, with little or no food making it to the eastern regions.

    SYNOPSIS: The scarcity of foodstuffs and medicine has forced thousand of Afghans to cross the border into Pakistan looking for aid. The growth of the problem forced the Pakistan government to ask for help from the United Nations. The U.N. has sent two missions into the area to assess the situation. So far it has left 190,000 dollars (U.S.) for emergency relief work.

    The U.N. estimates that there are nearly 200,000 refugees camped in two areas. About 45,000 in Baluchistan, and the remainder in the North Western Frontier Province. So far there isn't any great fear of famine, although U.N. officials have reported sporadic outbreaks of dysentery, measles and various other diseases.

    The major problem now facing the refugees is the climate. Winter is quickly approaching and most of them will have to spend it in makeshift camps inside Pakistan territory.

    The government in Kabul has openly admitted that about a million of these Moslems are in open revolt against the regime. Other reports say that these popular uprisings, and the mutinies within the army show that the new President Mr. Amin has failed to keep his promise of stabilising the situation inside the country. For the refugees inside Pakistan it means an uncertain future, and the possibility of a long drawn out guerrilla style war that will keep them away from their homes.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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