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Two Hundred Die In Northern Afghan Camps
ISLAMABAD, March 2 (News Agencies) - More than 260 people have died in displacement camps in northern Afghanistan where 117,000 people are living in miserable conditions, U.N. officials said Friday.
The condition of people displaced by civil war and the worst drought in memory was "deteriorating," the United Nations Coordinator for Afghanistan said in a statement.
It said so far 117,000 people have been displaced from Faryab, Jowzjan, Balkh, Samangan and Saripul provinces in northern Afghanistan, including some areas held by forces opposed to the ruling Taliban militia.
"Following recent cold in the area over 200 people among 23,000 displaced persons in 16 camps in Baghlan died," it said.
Some 27,000 people were living in another 30 camps in Kunduz, where 60 out of 8,000 people are confirmed to have died, it said, warning the actual toll may be higher.
"Given the lack of comprehensive information in the northern provinces, the number of deaths recently disclosed by missions to Baghlan, Kunduz and Balkh may be only the tip of the iceberg," it warned.
The dead were mostly children under five years old, women who died during childbirth and old men, it said.
"Most families gave hunger and exposure to cold whether as the main reasons of the death."
Local authorities had housed the internally displaced people in abandoned public buildings and makeshift camps, it said.
"Most of these shelters are not fit for human habitation, exposing people to hazards associated with overcrowding, poor sanitation, disease and cold," the statement said, adding that few camps have access to safe water.
It said the aid communities had warned the "humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was in a sharp downwards spiral" that will continue until at least next summer.
"The capacity of the assistance community to ameliorate the situation is limited, and will be even more restricted if necessary resources are not forthcoming."
"Even with additional resources, assistance agencies in Afghanistan may have to engage in humanitarian triage while attempting to save as many lives as possible."
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