Afghans rejoice as snow blankets Kabul

By David Fox

Friday February 1, 9:05 PM

KABUL (Reuters) - Snow blanketed Kabul for the first time in years on Friday, bringing hope for an end to four years of withering drought in war-torn Afghanistan.

Snow started falling after dawn on the Muslim holy day, and quickly piled up in open areas of the capital. The snowfall finally ended in the middle of the afternoon, with white flakes replacing the choking dust that normally covers the city.

Afghanistan's devastating drought has compounded problems in a country plagued by more than two decades of war.

Residents of Kabul say if it snows in the capital, it generally means snow in the mountains as well -- which will freeze and provide much-needed spring melt for next season's crops.

The unusual weather drew scores of children to the streets who built snowmen and then pelted each other with snowballs.

But while it was fun for some, the cold weather brought more misery for hundreds of thousands of people living in temporary shelters in the city.

"We want to appeal to countries and societies to help us â€* we need clothes and food," said Ali, one of thousands of displaced people who have taken over deserted buildings at the Russian embassy compound.

The United Nations, which is running a big humanitarian relief operation in Afghanistan, cancelled its flights from neighbouring Pakistan because of the weather.

The World Food Programme, which is feeding more than six million Afghans, said the weather was also likely to affect its distribution of supplies.

"The weather is good and bad," a spokesman said. "In the long term it is good for the country, but winter is the hardest time for the needy."

Kabul's legion of beggars wrapped themselves up against the weather but still took their usual positions outside mosques -- always lucrative after Friday prayers.

The Internet site www.weather.com had not forecast snow for Afghanistan on Friday, but did say snow was expected early next week and temperatures were expected to plunge to below minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus four Fahrenheit) with highs of around zero Celsius (32 Fahrenheit).