LASHKAR GAH, 21 February (IRIN) - It has been 12 days since Khair Mohammed fled his home in Musa Qala in the troubled Helmand province and sought refuge in the
provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. The capture of the district centre by the Taliban three weeks ago and the fear of retaliatory bombing by international forces forced him and hundreds of other
families to leave their homes, taking only essentials. "We heard that families who came from there [Musa Qala] received help, but I have not seen any help delivered to the families here," Mohammed
complained. Neither has 40-year-old Amanullah, who fled Musa Qala nine days earlier. "We don't have a carpet to sit on and no clothes to wear. There is no work available here and I have no option
but to beg," he said. Aid agencies acknowledge the acute problems of delivering assistance to people in conflict areas, admitting that only a fraction have received help because of access
difficulties, compounded by a lack of accurate information about the extent of the problem. According to Shaheer Shariar, a spokesman for the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD),
while 1,500 families had been displaced from Musa Qala, as of Sunday only 300 had received food and non-food assistance through the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Afghan Red Crescent
Society (ARCS) and the World Food Programme. The UN agencies, however, were still working on the basis of initial estimates that only 500-600 families had been displaced. There is even less
information about more recent displacements in the province. Assadullah Mayar of ARCS and Mohammed Qane of the MRRD's provincial department said about 3,000 more families were displaced from the
Kajaki area of the province earlier this week, but there had been no move to assist them. The problem of the lack of information and access in the southern provinces of Afghanistan was emphasised on
Wednesday by Margareta Wahlström, the acting UN Emergency Relief Coordinator. At a press conference marking the end of her five-day mission to the country, Wahlström said: "One of the most
difficult issues for all our actions in the south is access to the population limited by security concerns and moving battlefronts." According to Wahlström, it was difficult to get accurate
information and establish a baseline for providing help. To do so, more resources would have to be dedicated to the simple exercise of checking the information, she said. Commenting on the situation
in Musa Qala, she told IRIN that the estimates of the numbers of displaced differed hugely - one was twice as high as the other. Meanwhile, back in Lashkar Gah, Mohammed hoped that some NGOs would
provide relief to the displaced families, but even more that he would be able to return home soon to his land and his small business. "If they can establish security in our areas we can go back to
our own homes and we will not need the assistance of any government," the shopkeeper said. There are only two circumstances under which he would return: "We will go home only if either the
government assures us of security or the whole province is controlled by the Taliban. If the situation continues as it is now, we will not return. I remember very well that a bomb in our neighbourhood
once killed 20 members of a family." oa/mm/am/ds/at/ar/mw
