ISLAMABAD, Nov 24: A warehouse of the World Food Programme was hit in Kandahar in the US bombardment last week, a WFP spokesperson, Khalid Mansour, confirmed to Dawn here.

Based on the footage of international TV networks, he said, the WFP had confirmed that its warehouse in Kandahar had been hit in the bombardment.

The warehouse, that was reportedly taken over by the Taliban in October, contained 1,600 metric tonnes of food.

The spokesperson however, said that “we are unable to confirm how much food was in the warehouse on Friday and the extent of the damage. WFP will attempt to assess as soon as possible whether the food can still be distributed once our staff are able to return to Kandahar.”

Briefing journalists about the visit of UN deputy special representative Francesc Vendrell, the spokesperson for the UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Afghanistan, Stephanie Bunker, said the UN staff had begun returning to Kabul on Saturday after a security assessment mission had flown to the Bagram air-base.

She said Mr Vendrell continued to hold meetings with various Afghan leaders and exchange views on the five-point formula presented by Lakhdar Brahimi, the special representative of the UN secretary- general for Afghanistan.

The spokesperson said Mr Vendrell on Sunday had met separately with Prof Burhan-ud-Din Rabbani, the president of the United Front- led government of the Islamic State of Afghanistan; Prof Abdul Rabb Rasul Saayyaf, the head of the Ettehad Islami, one of the components of the United Front; and with the representatives of the Shoora of the Pakhtoons from the south.

Mr Vendrell was said to have been hoping to meet with the leaders of Hazara groups, including Prof Khalili and Prof Akbari, within the next few days.