Afghanistan gripped by cold spell

BBC News

Despatches Kabul

Most of Afghanistan is gripped by a very cold spell of winter weather. It has meant that fighting on the front lines has been quieter than usual over the past few days. The capital Kabul is covered in snow. This compounds problems for ordinary citizens, who find it hard enough to cope. It's especially hard for families who have been displaced by fighting from their homes, or who don't have an able-bodied man among them. From the Afghan capital, William Reeve reports:

Kabul has just as many needy families this winter as was the case a year ago, but as Svente Yngrot of the International Red Cross says, food prices in the city are gradually going up and the chance of anyone finding a job gets forever harder. Mr Yngrot is relief coordinator to the Red Cross and he has found that Afghans are remarkably good at coping with problems, but says their ability to cope endlessly with these problems is getting weaker.

The Red Cross is helping about thirty thousand families in Kabul, mostly by providing food stuffs. About half these families are headed by someone who is handicapped in one way or another. Most of the other half are headed by widows. The Red Cross is also helping families who have fled recently from fighting north of the capital.

Ironically, markets in Kabul are full of trolleys piled high with essential foods. The problem is that few people can afford to buy these commodities and as the conflict in Afghanistan continues, ordinary Afghans find it harder and harder to eke out a living, especially in urban areas.

Many families have already sold most of their possessions in order just to buy food. At present a major problem is how to keep warm. Fuel is expensive and for those who can't afford to buy any, finding scraps of wood for stoves or fires is increasingly difficult.