Red Cross says bomb destroyed food supplies

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) last night condemned US strikes which destroyed more than a third of the food stored at its warehouse in Kabul.

"It is definitely a civilian target," said Robert Moni, head of the ICRC delegation in Kabul, now evacuated to Pakistan. "In addition, it is a clearly marked ICRC warehouse, marked on the top with a red cross. People should take all necessary measures to avoid such things."

Two bombs hit a building in the warehouse compound which contained wheat, oil and blankets, said Pascal Duport, the deputy head of the ICRC mission in Kabul. One employee was injured by glass. Rescuers battled to put out the blaze but at least 35 per cent of the food and other equipment was lost.

The ICRC has complained to the US embassies in Islamabad and Geneva. Macarena Aguilar, an ICRC spokeswoman in Geneva, said: "This was not a legitimate target."

The White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: "It's hard to say whether something was a result of anti-aircraft weaponry that was shot from the ground, or other weapons were shot from the ground and came back down, or whether it was coalition efforts."

Aid agencies withdrew their staff from Afghanistan when the Taliban said they could no longer guarantee their safety after the air attacks began. Bombers killed four local UN workers last week.

The UN agencies say not enough international aid is flowing into Afghanistan. The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said only a fraction of the promised millions had arrived. Earlier this month donors pledged $180m (£80m) now and a further $400m (£180m) later. The WFP appealed for $257m, but so far has received $14m. It is feeding 1.7 million people a day and says up to 7.5 million could eventually need its help.

The UNHCR, which needs $50m to prepare camps in northern Pakistan for the new wave of refugees from Afghanistan, has received only $12.5m. The UN Children's Fund says up to 100,000 Afghan children could die this winter, but they have only half the $36m they appealed for last month.

The WFP said yesterday it was trying to restore an aid route through Uzbekistan into Afghanistan as Russia's first humanitarian shipment arrived in the region. Officials in Tajikistan said the aid, about 100 tons of tents, blankets, warm clothing and food, had reached Faizabad in Afghanistan, which is held by the Northern Alliance.

The WFP also yesterday asked for 67,000 tons of food aid, worth $36m, to help one million Tajiks in remote mountain areas. "It would be very ironic if all assistance goes to Afghanistan, while all the people here can do is watch the trucks go by," said Ardag Meghdessian, the WFP's country director in Tajikistan.