ISLAMABAD, Jan 3: Several thousand Afghan refugees are once again amassing at the Chaman border, fleeing US-led coalition bombardments and food insecurity in western, northern and southern Afghanistan, UNHCR said here on Thursday.

Speaking at a news conference, UNHCR spokesperson, Fatoumata Kaba, said the refugee agency has managed to move some 1,000 out of the several thousand refugees who unexpectedly arrived in the no man’s land between Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Landi Karez camp, about 15 kilometres west of the Chaman border on Thursday.

The spokesperson said at a time when thousands of Afghan refugees are crossing back into Afghanistan via the Chaman border, by mid-day on Thursday, 3,000 more refugees arrived near the Killi Faizo staging camp, some of them having travelled for as many as 20 days.

“Just how many of them there are remains uncertain but at least 3,000 of them are visible while several thousands are reported to be farther out of site in the no man’s area.” She said majority of the new arrivals have come from southern Afghanistan while others have come from as far as Kunduz and Herat in northern and western Afghanistan.

Explaining the reasons for the unexpected new wave of refugees contrary to the trend of the refuges going back to Afghanistan, the UNHCR spokesperson said 28 families fled from Kunduz over two weeks ago due to bombardments.