ICRC PLANE TO START AIR DROP OPERATION (AFP, FEB 16)

KABUL, Feb 16 (AFP) - The International Committee of the Red Cross intends to start a much awaited air-drop operation over quake-battered Takhar province in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, an ICRC official here said Monday. "The air-drop is supposed to start tomorrow afternoon after a C-130 plane and its American crew from Europe arrive in Peshawar," in northwestern Pakistan, the official told AFP. The air-drop is possible even in cloudy weather because the cargo plane can fly at low altitude, below the clouds, to drop relief goods to thousands of homeless people, he stressed. In Peshawar, bordering Afghanistan, an ICRC official confirmed "we are in contact with different companies and a plane is expected soon." However he said the exact date of initiating the air drop operation could not be specified given the weather conditions. "We are looking into different possibilities and an air drop is one of the options," he added. Bad weather, icy winds and snowfall have so far hampered the flight operations. Some aid agencies last week used the unpaved Khawajaghar airstrip, 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the quake epicentre in Rostaq to deliver essential itens and medicines in Takhar. The ICRC official who prefered anonymity said the cargo plane would conduct six to eight sorties, each carrying an estimated 13 tonnes. It will drop tents, blankets and plastic sheeting. The ICRC also plans to take a relief convoy by road from Kabul to the quake-hit areas, he said. "We have received the green light from the authorities on both sides" of the frontlines to move the convoy on Wednesday, he added. Takhar is in the hands of the opposition alliance headed by former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani while the southern two-thirds of Afghganistan is held by the Taliban militia who seized Kabul in September 1996. The Takhar bound convoy of 10 ICRC trucks and 10 trucks of the Afghan Red Crescent will pass through a couple of frontlines involving the forces of the Taliban and their rivals. The convoy with relief goods and life saving drugs was due to leave Kabul on Sunday, but it had been delayed because of a landslide on the highway. Travellers arriving in Kabul from the north said a huge rock, the size of a bus, blocked the road on Friday some 25 kilometers east of the Afghan capital. The ICRC is now compelled to go to the Tagab frontlines, 70 kilometers northeast before turning to the north, they said. ...