The US government has gifted 250,000 blankets to the Afghan people in the largest gesture of its kind since the start of the conflict in Afghanistan, asking UNICEF to deliver them to the country's interior, a UNICEF official said Sunday in Tehran.
Luc Chauvin said the blankets will be delivered by various offices of the UN Children's Fund from neighbouring countries, including Iran, to those parts of Afghanistan where UN Afghan UNICEF employees are still working.
Around 80,000 blankets could pass through Iran, but a final decision has yet to be made, he said.
The remainder will be transported via Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.
"The imminent onset of winter is the main concern. We are doing our utmost to get warm clothes into Afghanistan, along with blankets, and boots -- mainly for children," Chauvin stressed.
On Sunday, a load of 16,000 blankets bought by UNICEF in Iran will be delivered to Herat in western Afghanistan. Nigel Fisher, special UNICEF representative for Afghanistan, and Souleymane Diallo, the UNICEF representative in Iran, are at the Iranian-Afghan border at Dogharun, in north-eastern Iran, to oversee the convoy's transit into Afghanistan.
Chauvin also said that a UNICEF plane from Copenhagen would bring in to Iran some 50 tonnes of food and water equipment, destined for Afghanistan.
A first UNICEF plane, bringing 40 tonnes of essential medical aid, arrived in Iran two weeks ago, its cargo bound for Herat, a town where some 200,000 displaced people are living, having moved there from other parts of Afghanistan -- Tehran, (AFP)
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