U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network

Tel: +92-51-2211451 Ext 484 
Fax: +92-51-2211 450 
e-mail: irin@irin.org.pk


Asia
IRIN-AS Weekly Round-Up 94
14 - 20 October 2006


CONTENTS:

PAKISTAN: Fear of dengue fever spreads
PAKISTAN: Dengue fever kills 12
PAKISTAN: 'Garden city' still desolate year after quake
AFGHANISTAN: Millions face hunger as drought worsens, warns aid group
AFGHANISTAN: Five years after the Taliban, Afghans take stock
AFGHANISTAN: School torched in Badakhshan
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Afghan registration starts slowly
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Afghan registration begins
NEPAL: Child marriage still common in rural southwest



PAKISTAN: Fear of dengue fever spreads

Fear of the black and white striped mosquito responsible for spreading 
dengue fever has been keeping thousands of people indoors across the 
Pakistani provinces of Sindh and the Punjab. Levels of concern have 
risen sharply, since the first cases of dengue virus - causing high 
fever, severe body aches and sometimes death if left untreated - were 
reported several weeks ago. There have been at least 20 deaths, almost 
all in the southern province of Sindh.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56033&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: Dengue fever kills 12

At least 12 people have died of dengue fever since an outbreak hit 
southern Pakistan in mid-September, the World Health Organization (WHO) 
said on Thursday. More than 160 patients are still hospitalised in the 
southern port city of Karachi, the epicentre of the mosquito-transmitted 
epidemic.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56012&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


PAKISTAN: 'Garden city' still desolate year after quake

People in the town of Bagh, which means 'garden' in Persian, are trying 
to resume an ordinary life. Each morning, traders head for their shops, 
labourers to construction sites and workers to their offices. But here, 
in one of the largest towns of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, where an 
estimated 70-80 percent of houses were destroyed in last October's 
devastating regional earthquake, there is no sense of normalcy.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55990&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=PAKISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Millions face hunger as drought worsens, warns aid group

Some 2.5 million drought-stricken Afghans across much of the country 
have lost their crops and are facing acute food shortages, international 
aid group Christian Aid warned on Wednesday in the capital, Kabul.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55996&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: Five years after the Taliban, Afghans take stock

With the fifth anniversary of the initial defeat of the Taliban in 
Afghanistan approaching, Afghans are asking themselves how far the 
country has come in the intervening period. The country began to change 
in October 2001, after the Taliban refused to give up Osama bin Laden, 
the man the US held responsible for the 11 September terrorist attacks.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55997&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN: School torched in Badakhshan

Unidentified gunmen set fire to a large high school in the northeastern 
province of Badakhshan on Saturday night, local officials said on 
Sunday. "Last night a number of gunmen entered Hazrat Khalid school in 
Zebak district, tied up two guards and then set fire to the school 
building," Abdul Mohammad Fateh, head of Badakhshan education 
department, said.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55972&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN


AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Afghan registration starts slowly

Across Pakistan, some 13,000 Afghan refugees have been registered in a 
drive that started five days ago, officials said on Friday. The campaign 
is aimed at providing millions of Afghan exiles in Pakistan with 
identity cards valid for three years. The cards recognise the bearer as 
an Afghan citizen temporarily living in Pakistan.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56034&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN


AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN: Afghan registration begins

At least 1,000 Afghans participated in the first day of a massive 
10-week registration drive that started on Sunday across Pakistan, 
officials said on Monday. The campaign is aimed at providing millions of 
Afghan exiles in Pakistan with identity cards to allow them to stay in 
the country for the next three years.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55974&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN


NEPAL: Child marriage still common in rural southwest

Urmila Kurmi was barely six when her parents married her off to a young 
boy only two years older. "I didn't know what marriage meant but now I 
know that this is not what children should be doing," said Kurmi, who is 
now 14 years old, and already leading an adult life.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=56006&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=NEPAL


IRIN-Asia
Tel: +90 312 454 1177
Fax: +90 312 495 4166
Email: IrinAsia@IRINnews.org


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Asia                               www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/casia