pakistan concerned at food shortage in afghanistan

islamabad, dec. 11, irna -- pakistan on saturday expressed concern over food shortage in afghanistan and said it would try to help the latter as much as possible. in a statement, released here, pakistan foreign office said that it shared the concern expressed by the world food programme regarding severe food shortage in afghanistan. it said that negotiations were continuing between pakistani officials and taliban for supply of wheat. "despite its own dependence on food import, pakistan will try to help afghanistan as much as possible to overcome this crisis," the statement said. the world food programme on friday expressed deep concern over scarcity of food grain and their high prices in afghanistan, saying that more afghans would face starvation if this problem was not addressed timely. cereal deficit in afghanistan is estimated to be around 1.1 milion tons. under a previous agreement with taliban, pakistan's north-west frontier province will provide 100,000 tons of wheat and other commodities to afghanistan this year. pakistan also asked the international community to take notice of this situation, 'which has been exacerbated by the recent un sanctions.' the statement called for rushing emergency food aid to afghanistan on humanitarian consideration. md/rr end ::irna 11/12/99 15:00