U.N. Official Tours Devastated Cities Of Afghanistan

A decade of Soviet occupation followed by years of civil war have left Afghanistan’s two largest cities a landscape of rubble and ruin, reminiscent of post-World War II Europe, a senior U.N. official said Saturday.

Peter Hansen, U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, toured Kabul, Kandahar and Jalalabad last week to back up an appeal for emergency humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.

He said the aid would go toward detecting land mines, improving the supply of clean water, health care and education. Afghanistan is the most heavily mined country in the world, he said.

Kandahar, the ancestral home of Afghanistan’s royal family, was once a sprawling city of ornate palaces and adobe homes. Some areas have been reduced to mounds of dirt.

Kabul, a bustling capital of nearly 2 million people before Muslim insurgents pushed the communists from power in 1992, has been devastated by factional fighting that has left at least 25,000 people dead - mostly civilians - and sent another 750,000 fleeing to eastern Jalalabad.

“The devastation in many parts of Kabul and Kandahar is just enormous,” Hansen said. “One is reminded of images of World War II Europe when you see entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble.”