DUBAI, 30 September 2007 (IRIN) - Contents:

AFGHANISTAN: Increasing armed robberies, abductions in Herat AFGHANISTAN: Children share deprivations of imprisoned mothers AFGHANISTAN: Thousands flee Taliban, aerial bombing in south BANGLADESH: Malnourished poor children face nutrition crunch KAZAKHSTAN: Authorities move to ward off Lake Alakol flood threat NEPAL: Over 5,000 people displaced after ethnic violence in south NEPAL: Children severely affected by ethnic violence in south IRAQ-PAKISTAN: Iraqi refugees in limbo awaiting third country resettlement PAKISTAN: World Bank recommends improved flood forecasting PAKISTAN: Cholera fear as parts of Hyderabad still knee-deep in floodwater SRI LANKA: Long-term Muslim displaced face significant challenges

AFGHANISTAN: Increasing armed robberies, abductions in Herat

Increasing armed robberies and abductions are causing widespread concern in Herat, a relatively peaceful province in western Afghanistan. In one of the most recent cases, over 600 workers at a flourmill in Herat Province lost their jobs when the company was shut down after its owner was abducted by armed men in September.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74465

AFGHANISTAN: Children share deprivations of imprisoned mothers

Fatima (not her real name) lives with her mother and a younger brother in Pul-e Charkhi prison, in the eastern outskirts of Kabul. The 12-year-old was first brought to the prison four years ago, after a court sentenced her mother to 11 years for murdering her husband.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74491

AFGHANISTAN: Thousands flee Taliban, aerial bombing in south

Over 2,500 families have left their homes in different districts of insurgency-battered Helmand, Uruzgan and Kandahar provinces in southern Afghanistan over the past two months, provincial officials told IRIN on 27 September.

[Listen to IRIN radio report in Dari or Pashto: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74514]

Many displaced civilians who have flocked into Kandahar city say they left their homes because Taliban insurgents tried to force them to join their ranks, feed and care for their wounded fighters and provide financial support for their campaign.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74516

BANGLADESH: Malnourished poor children face nutrition crunch

As flood waters continue to recede throughout much of Bangladesh after this year's above average monsoon rains, health experts have expressed concern over child malnutrition in the country.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74486

KAZAKHSTAN: Authorities move to ward off Lake Alakol flood threat

Measures are being taken in Kazakhstan to ward off a flood threat to villages from a lake on the border with China. Strong winds at Lake Alakol cause waves to pound its shores and erode the banks, experts say, bringing the waters closer to inhabited areas. If measures are not taken to shore up the disintegrating banks, erosion could cause the lake to flood settlements, and also holiday camps catering to the summer tourist trade.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74471

NEPAL: Over 5,000 people displaced after ethnic violence in south

Over 5,000 people have been displaced over the past week in southeastern Nepal due to violence between Pahade and Madhesi ethnic groups, according to a report released on 24 September by the Human Rights Treaty Monitoring Coordination Committee (HRTMCC), a joint forum of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Nepal working in the field of human rights.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74457

NEPAL: Children severely affected by ethnic violence in south

Shocked by the brutal killing of her father, seven-year old schoolgirl Nisha Sunwar can barely sleep or eat. "What had my father done? Why did they kill him?" asked the young girl.

Her 40-year-old father Subaram was killed by a group of Madhesi people in Devipur village, Kapilvastu District, southeastern Nepal, after their local leader Mohit Khan was assassinated by unknown persons recently, said local villagers.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74497

IRAQ-PAKISTAN: Iraqi refugees in limbo awaiting third country resettlement

"I can't go back to Iraq. If I do they will kill me," Iraqi asylum seeker Fadhel Nama Audah, 50, said. He could not return because his political connections with Saddam Hussein's regime effectively barred him.

Married with seven children, his eyes welled up with tears as he recalled the overland journey to Pakistan through Iran eight years ago in the hope of finding a better life for his family.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74448

PAKISTAN: World Bank recommends improved flood forecasting

Nearly three months after devastating floods hit southern Pakistan over 250,000 people are still living in makeshift shelters or camps, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In Dadu District, Sindh Province, Fayyaz, 30, and his family live in a shelter by the side of a road.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74494

PAKISTAN: Cholera fear as parts of Hyderabad still knee-deep in floodwater

Rukhsana Naz, an irate housewife in Hyderabad's badly flooded city centre Railway Colony, stood in knee-deep water inside her home and sloshed one foot around to show how dirty the water was. "It's been like this since it rained in mid-August. There's water everywhere, inside our homes, and we have no choice but to live with it," she said.

Hyderabad, the second largest city in the southern province of Sindh, was inundated about a month ago after heavy rains, and some parts of the city remain flooded.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74515

SRI LANKA: Long-term Muslim displaced face significant challenges

It was 17 years ago, but the memory is still fresh for T. Mohamed. "It was 11 June 1990 - that was the day," he recalled, the one that changed his life.

"I was in Colombo, captaining the Jaffna District soccer team and later I found myself cut off from my home town Jaffna," the 45-year-old Sri Lankan remembered. Mohamed, who is now a social worker, was among the thousands of Muslims forced out of their homes in northern Sri Lanka by the Tamil Tigers in 1990. In his case, caught out on a visit to the capital, he was unable to return because the train and other transport services to Jaffna District were cut due to the escalating violence.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74522

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