Short rejects claims that bombs stop aid for needy

Clare Short, the Secretary of State for International Development, rejected claims by aid charities that the bombing was preventing food reaching hungry people, and that tens of thousands were at risk from cold and starvation.

"It isn't true that getting the food in is dependent on stopping the bombing," she said on a visit to Islamabad. "We've got to get the food in and we've got to bring the bombing to an end as soon as possible. Both things are desirable, but the bombing doesn't prevent us getting the food in. I think everyone in the world wants the al-Qa'ida network to be demobilised becaue they threaten all our countries and they threaten innocent lives. None of us celebrate the bombing."

The call for a bombing pause – made by Oxfam, Christian Aid, Cafod, ActionAid, Islamic Relief and the Tear Fund – followed the same plea last Friday by Mary Robinson, the UN commissioner for human rights.

The aid agencies said their demand for a halt to fighting on all sides stemmed from "frustration" at its disproportionate effect on Afghanistan's civilian population.

The World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed that, in the past few days, it had increased the amount of food getting into Afghanistan. It said it hoped to bring in enough supplies to see the country through the winter, when the freezing of the mountain passes makes land convoys impossible.

Almost six million Afghans are said to be in need, and the WFP aims to move in 52,000 tons of food during next month.

But a group of three British non-government organisations demanded a halt to the bombing campaign and said that, although food was getting across the border, the war conditions prevented it form being distributed. "The reality is that we cannot get it to the people who need it most," said Sam Barratt of Oxfam. "The price of petrol has gone up four-fold, drivers are not prepared to risk the roads, and it's increasingly difficult for our 120 staff to get to work."

On Monday, a convoy was due to go out to the Hazarajat area where no food has been received since 11 September. But an off-target bomb exploded near by, injuring a WFP worker and preventing the convoy from leaving. "We need a pause, not only in the bombing, but also in fighting between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance," Mr Barratt said.

The United Nations said two of its warehouses in Kabul and Kandahar had been seized by the Taliban with 7,000 tons of food – about half of its stock in Afghanistan. According to WFP estimates, 52,000 tons of food a month need to be delivered to major regional centres.

At present, fewer than 10,000 tons are arriving, leaving humanitarian workers with three weeks to deliver 60,000 tons to isolated and rural areas. The British-based agencies said 400,000 people in the Hazarajat region now had only wild vegetation and whatever livestock they possessed to survive on.