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February 4
15,000 people have been made homeless by the earthquake
1998: 4,000 feared dead in Afghan earthquake
England have
An earthquake in northern Afghanistan has left thousands dead, injured or
homeless.
The earthquake is centred on the city of Rostaq in the remote province of
Takhar, close to the border with Tajikistan.
A spokesman for the Northern Alliance - which controls the area - told
Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press over 3,500 bodies had been recovered.
The Islamic Taleban Government in Kabul puts the death toll at 3,230, but
western experts believe these figures may be too high because the area is
sparsely populated.
According to the anti-Taleban Afghan Embassy in the Tajik capital Dushanbe
about 15,000 people have been made homeless as dozens of villages have been
destroyed.
The United Nations and the International Red Cross is still trying to
verify this information.
There are no relief agencies in the area but the International Federation
of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has already sent a team from Dushanbe -
at least 36-hours" drive away.
An airport to the west of Rostaq is still operating and can receive
emergency supplies.
Swedish seismologists measured the earthquake at 6.1 on the Richter scale,
which they described as "not extreme" but they said under certain conditions it
could nevertheless cause considerable damage.
Most of the population in the affected area live in mud-built houses.
Afghan ambassador to the UN Ravan Farhadi said the region was covered in
snow drifts and extremely cold at night.
Taleban leader Mulla Mohammed Omar has expressed his sympathies and ordered
troops in the region - attempting to capture Takhar province from the Northern
Alliance - to assist rescue efforts.
But ongoing civil war in Tajikistan may hamper relief operations from the
other side of the border.
Seven teams of observers are on their way to establish regional
headquarters
1973: Vietnam observers" struggle for peace
Artificially 1969:
The International inspection teams in Vietnam have been sent into the
countryside to monitor the truce agreed last Saturday in Paris.
The International Commission of Control and Supervision (ICCS) was created
at the Paris Peace Accords - signed by the US, the Vietcong, North Vietnam and
South Vietnam - on 27 January and includes delegates from Hungary, Poland,
Canada and Indonesia.
But the warring parties have been unable to agree the details of the
settlement and fighting has continued in spite of the ceasefire.
About 3,500 communists have been killed by South Vietnamese troops, who
claim they have suffered similar numbers of casualties over the past week.
The ICCS announced yesterday it was not going to wait for the
reconciliation meeting between the Vietcong and South Vietnamese in Paris
tomorrow.
Seven teams of observers are on their way to establish regional
headquarters in the provincial capitals of Quang Nam, Thua Thien, Pleiku, Pham
Thiet, Bien Hoa, My Tho and Can Tho.
They had already set up a skeleton presence in three of the areas after the
Joint Military Commission met to produce guidelines for the ICCS on 2
February.
The Military Commission - comprising Vietcong, South Vietnam, North Vietnam
and the US - is responsible for the security and transport arrangements of the
ICCS.
A spokesman for the ICCS said they will be settling into their areas until
the Military Commission has laid down the infrastructure for them to move to the
fronts and supervise the ceasefire.
Senior figures from the Military Commission met in Saigon on 29 January to
decide how demarcation lines should be drawn between the South Vietnamese and
communist Vietcong armies in South Vietnam.
Under the terms of the peace agreement the ICCS is to establish regional
and sub-regional administrations, with headquarters in 26 towns and 12
observation teams based in the demilitarised zone below the Seventeenth
Parallel.
Vocabulary:
seismologists : a scientist who studies earthquakes(地震学家) |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:20:19