Red Cross criticises Afghanistan food drops

Antoni Bruel, the general co-ordinator of the Spanish Red Cross, spoke out against the distribution of humanitarian aid to Afghanistan from American planes, saying that it feeds the enemy and there are no guarantees that it reaches the people who need it. Bruel said yesterday that humanitarian corridors should be opened in Afghanistan, so that the distribution of aid could be made effective, although he admitted that it was a very difficult task. “The situation in Afghanistan will get worse within a few weeks, with the onset of winter,” he predicted, adding that the role of the Red Cross was “very difficult” in this situation. This is for two main reasons: first of all, the tension in the border areas where the refugees gather, and where the people do not distinguish between who is bombing them and who is giving aid, and the lack of aid for displaced persons. They cannot leave Afghanistan, and because of the war, the Red Cross is unable to help them, Bruel said. He also lamented the fact that the US government has not given them an explanation about the destruction of one of their two warehouses in Afghanistan. He said that in the first case, it was said to be a missile, but no official explanation has been made about the second. He added that bombing Red Cross warehouses is recognised legally as an attack against international humanitarian law. The Spanish Red Cross has sent a load of legumes and wheat to Pakistan, together with tents and clothing, to help the refugees. He said fund raising was slower in the case of war compared to natural disasters. Bruel was in Palma to give a lecture on the crisis in Afghanistan.