Taliban fighters taking shelter in refugee camps: UNHCR
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Nov 7: The United Nations High Commission for Refugees on Wednesday claimed that armed elements are taking shelter in refugee camps near the borders making the delivery of humanitarian assistance difficult.
A UNHCR press release said that civilians were mixed up with Taliban fighters in all the refugee camps near the borders making it extremely difficult for them to receive international assistance without unintentionally feeding the war effort.
The UNHCR said that concerns about the safety of the Makaki site, both for its inhabitants and for aid workers, have been reinforced by repeated witness accounts of Taliban military presence inside Makaki, as well as other military positions nearby.
“These accounts, which include photographic evidence, describe not only the presence of armed Taliban soldiers inside the camp, but also the presence of heavy machine-guns and multiple rocket launchers,” the UNHCR said.
The statement said that the UNHCR had frequently stressed that the two camps in western Afghanistan, one in a Taliban-held area, and the other in an area controlled by the Northern Alliance, in addition to another camp in Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan, and the two sites on the Pyanj river on the border with Tajikistan, were extremely vulnerable to abuse by the warring factions.
Meanwhile, responding to questions at a news conference, UNHCR spokesperson Yousaf Hassan rejected Pakistan’s proposal of setting up refugee camps inside Afghanistan.
He said the issue of setting up camps inside Afghanistan was not on the agenda of the refugee agency.
Pakistan on Tuesday had proposed establishment of IDP camps and peace zones inside Afghanistan to minimize the refugee influx in neighbouring countries.
FLEEING DPS KILLED: Meanwhile, the Taliban are slaughtering Afghans who try to flee the country, gunning them down in cold blood, refugees who have made it to Pakistan claim, adds AFP.
On the outskirts of Quetta, near the Afghan border, thousands of “invisible” refugees exist in abject poverty.
They have fled because of the bombing of Afghanistan and a severe drought. But more than anything, they have fled to avoid persecution by the ruling Taliban, the report adds.
Of a dozen Afghans interviewed, all had tales of random killings, human rights abuses and persecution.
Some told of mass murders.
Ovr Mohd, 65, fled to the hills from Bamiyan to avoid the rampaging Taliban. When he returned he said he found his three sons shot dead.
He said they were targeted because they were ethnic Hazaras, whose sympathies lie with the opposition Northern Alliance.
“When we decided to leave Afghanistan we saw the Taliban attacking people who were fleeing. People were gathering on the road to leave and they were shot. We have seen this,” he said.
“I saw 50 people in front of me who were killed. They were women, children and men,” he added, claiming the killings happened a month ago.
“I hate the Taliban for doing this.”
Most of the 5,000 or so people who live in what has become known as Hazara town in Quetta’s west, a dusty maze of dirt roads and mud brick houses, are Persian-speaking Shias.
They are among the 100,000 Afghans believed to have crossed the border illegally since the US began pounding Afghanistan.
They have no identity papers and officially do not exist in Pakistan. They refuse to move into refugee camps for fear of deportation. Consequently they receive no help from aid groups. Saeed Zaman, 35, said he witnessed similar killings in Kabul, the Afghan capital.
“There is a chowk (roundabout) where the people go when they want to leave. The Taliban are attacking them there. I saw dozens killed on Friday. The people were pleading to leave but the Taliban shot them,” he said.
“They left the bodies where they fell. The animals were eating them.”
Zaman paid a smuggler 1,300 rupees (21 US dollars) to escape the terror, arriving in Quetta on Monday. Six of his family have been killed by the Taliban, he said, including his wife.
