Donkey caravan runs gauntlet to complete U.N. relief mission

Kyodo News Service

ISLAMABAD, Jan. 21 (Kyodo) - A caravan of 1,500 donkeys has run a gauntlet between rival Afghan guerrillas to get relief supplies to some 60,000 people in bitterly cold northern Afghanistan, a U.N. official said Friday.

Braving the temperatures and slow-circling wolf packs, the donkey caravan traversed a 40-kilometer corridor between a battlefield and snow-covered mountains to transport relief goods into Samangan Province, Michael Semple, acting U.N. regional coordinator for the region, said at a briefing.

The caravan had to negotiate icy mountain tracks through the Souf Pass about 200 kilometers north of Kabul to reach Samangan Province in northern Afghanistan, Semple added.

The pass lies across a battlefield where Taliban and Shiite Muslims have been fighting for nearly three years, but the rivals ''silenced their guns'' as the donkey trains moved across the battle lines.

''Some even cheered. They called it the 'army of donkeys','' Semple said.

The 6,000 donkey-loads of relief goods included wheat, tents, tarpaulins, blankets and quilts.

The local population also helped in the operation, which cost the U.N. 100,000 dollars, by arranging camps and stopovers along the route.

Semple noted the caravan was never looted, but the donkey drivers were afraid of the wolves and the extreme cold.

They made a dollar a load for the 40 km trip.