The United Nations has warned of widespread food shortages and massive population displacements in Afghanistan, involving up to 1.5 million people if the United States attacks the country.
It has been reported that Afghanistan is already showing signs of imminent famine, with vital food supplies not reaching the country as tensions increase.
A UN official said a crisis was developing rapidly and the agency was giving priority to helping displaced Afghanis. In just eight weeks Afghanistan will be in the middle of a harsh winter. "We have to scale up assistance before winter starts in November," a spokeswoman for the UN office which co-ordinates humanitarian activities for Afghanistan, Ms Stephanie Bunker, said.
The World Food Programme said yesterday there were already pre-famine signs, with only enough food stocks in Afghanistan to last for two to three weeks.
Millions of Afghans have already been displaced by 20 years of war, economic ruin and severe drought. and many who remain in the war-ravaged country rely on aid handouts.
In the last weeks thousands of people have left their homes and are seeking refuge in neighbouring Pakistan. Many are waiting to cross to safety at border points in the country.
While the Pakistan authorities are trying to seal the border, hundreds of Afghans are getting through. Thousands are waiting at various crossing including Chaman in the southern Baluchistan province of Pakistan, Miran Shah and Torkham in the North West Frontier province.
Conditions in existing refugee camps in Pakistan are very poor with reports of people dying of disease and malnutrition.
A spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP), Mr Khaled Mansour, said yesterday he feared a massive movement of people toward neighbouring countries if conditions inside Afghanistan deteriorate.