Afghan forces trade fire, as aid workers battle to help quake victims

KABUL, Feb 9 (AFP) - Rescue workers on Monday told of the devastation they found in a quake-hit region of northern Afghanistan as they battled to distribute emergency aid, amid reports of renewed fighting between the Taliban and the opposition alliance. As relief efforts gathered pace, initial reports from a humanitarian team in the northern province of Takhar substantiated fears that around 4,000 people or more may have perished in last Wednesday's earthquake. A team from Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF), the first to arrive on the scene, were told in one flattened village that 1,800 people had been killed there alone. Another 300 died in a nearby half-destroyed village, the MSF team said in a message received by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) at its office in Pakistan. At least a dozen villages in the remote region were hit by the quake in the midst of Afghanistan's harsh winter. Relief teams are having to deal with aftershocks and the cold as well as fears of more fighting between the Islamic Taliban militia and the opposition alliance, which controls the Takher province. Afghan sources said the two sides exchanged artillery shells Monday around Bangi area between Takhar and neighbouring Kunduz held by the Taliban militia. The Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), a private Pakistan-based information agency, said both sides blamed each other for the duel. AIP quoted a spokesman for the Taliban as saying the Islamic warriors would not launch any military operation until early Tuesday, when a ceasefire they declared is due to expire. Although estimates of the death toll have fluctuated, two major aftershocks have claimed 250 more lives, according to the Afghan embassy in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe. ICRC sources said a plane flew to Khawajaghar airfield near Rostaq Monday, carrying medical kits and some European Commission (EC) officials. A convoy of trucks loaded with emergency medical supplies, thousands of blankets and other relief material, including plastic sheets for shelters and clothing, was on its way to the region from northern Mazar-i-Sharif, they said. A team left northern Kunduz in the morning, headed for Rostaq with medical help, the sources said. The United Nations agencies have also mobilised resources for the relief operations and the EC humanitarian office announced Saturday it had set aside 2.2 million dollars for the relief effort. An ICRC spokesman, Juan Martinez, said it was possible 4,000 people may have been killed following the reports from the MSF team. "Maybe the figure of 4,000 is possible. It could be possible because of the latest figures," he said here. The information from MSF reported that more that 2,000 had been killed in two villages alone. The opposition has accused the militia of being indifferent to the plight of the quake victims.