February 4
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An earthquake in northern Afghanistan has left thousands dead, injured or homeless. The earthquake is centred on the city of Rostaq in the remote province of Takhar, close to the border with Tajikistan. A spokesman for the Northern Alliance - which controls the area - told Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press over 3,500 bodies had been recovered. The Islamic Taleban Government in Kabul puts the death toll at 3,230, but western experts believe these figures may be too high because the area is sparsely populated. According to the anti-Taleban Afghan Embassy in the Tajik capital Dushanbe about 15,000 people have been made homeless as dozens of villages have been destroyed. The United Nations and the International Red Cross is still trying to verify this information. There are no relief agencies in the area but the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has already sent a team from Dushanbe - at least 36-hours' drive away. An airport to the west of Rostaq is still operating and can receive emergency supplies. Swedishseismologistsmeasured the earthquake at 6.1 on the Richter scale, which they described as "not extreme" but they said under certain conditions it could nevertheless cause considerable damage. Most of the population in the affected area live in mud-built houses. Afghan ambassador to the UN Ravan Farhadi said the region was covered in snow drifts and extremely cold at night. Taleban leader Mulla Mohammed Omar has expressed his sympathies and ordered troops in the region - attempting to capture Takhar province from the Northern Alliance - to assist rescue efforts. But ongoing civil war in Tajikistan may hamper relief operations from the other side of the border. But the warring parties have been unable to agree the details of the settlement and fighting has continued in spite of the ceasefire. About 3,500 communists have been killed by South Vietnamese troops, who claim they have suffered similar numbers of casualties over the past week. The ICCS announced yesterday it was not going to wait for the reconciliation meeting between the Vietcong and South Vietnamese in Paris tomorrow. Seven teams of observers are on their way to establish regional headquarters in the provincial capitals of Quang Nam, Thua Thien, Pleiku, Pham Thiet, Bien Hoa, My Tho and Can Tho. They had already set up a skeleton presence in three of the areas after the Joint Military Commission met to produce guidelines for the ICCS on 2 February. The Military Commission - comprising Vietcong, South Vietnam, North Vietnam and the US - is responsible for the security and transport arrangements of the ICCS. A spokesman for the ICCS said they will be settling into their areas until the Military Commission has laid down the infrastructure for them to move to the fronts and supervise the ceasefire. Senior figures from the Military Commission met in Saigon on 29 January to decide how demarcation lines should be drawn between the South Vietnamese and communist Vietcong armies in South Vietnam. Under the terms of the peace agreement the ICCS is to establish regional and sub-regional administrations, with headquarters in 26 towns and 12 observation teams based in the demilitarised zone below the Seventeenth Parallel. |
