Red Cross-RI airlift for Afghans ends successfully

Red Cross-RI airlift for Afghans ends successfully

KABUL (AFP): An airlift of emergency medical supplies, aimed at helping those wounded in Afghanistan's long-standing conflict, has been successfully completed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), said a Kabul spokesman yesterday.

The airlift was carried out with the loan of an Indonesian military C-130 aircraft and crew.

"There were two flights this morning by the Indonesian C-130, bringing the total amount of airlifted medical supplies to around 65 tons," said Kabul Red Cross spokesman Jacques Villetaz.

"The airlift operation has now been successfully completed, enabling us to minimize the shortage in medical supplies. But we still need much more for the coming winter," Villetaz told AFP.

The Hercules transport aircraft made a total of five flights from the eastern provincial capital Jalalabad to airbases north and south of Kabul, ferrying emergency medical supplies that averaged 13 tons each, noted Villetaz.

There was also one mission to the provincial capitals Mazar-i- Sharif and Herat to transport wheelchairs and crutches for victims of mine explosions. From Herat, nearly nine tons of winter clothing were transported back to Kabul.

Both Indonesian Ambassador Havid Abdulgani and Kabul Red Cross chief Peter Stocker were present at Bagram airbase, 50 kilometers north of Kabul, yesterday to personally thank the Indonesian air force crew of the C-130 for their help.

However, Villetaz said that additional supplies needed to be transported by land routes to ten hospitals in and around Kabul.

Red Cross officials are currently negotiating with the Afghan authorities on arranging convoys of medical assistance, Villetaz said.