The Forgotten War

The U.N. refugee agency says about 200,000 people have been displaced by fighting in southern Afghanistan as NATO forces clash with a re-energized Taliban.

BBC:

The UNHCR said that it had distributed jerry cans, plastic sheeting, floor mats, lanterns, family kits and blankets to 3,200 families in Kandahar province, but that the fighting had added “renewed hardship” to a population already hard-hit by drought and earlier conflicts.

“We expect further displacement may take place until conditions are safe for the population to return to their homes,” said Jennifer Pagonis, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Rahmatullah Safi of the Afghan Department of Refugees and Repatriation said some help had already reached those displaced, but more needed to be done.

“People have lost everything - their vineyards, orchards, schools and clinics,” he said.

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