Refugee exodus expected

:: Currently 2.6 million refugees are in camps in Iran and Pakistan, with up to two million people on the move within Afghanistan’s borders.

:: Many of the refugees are fleeing starvation, with the UN estimating five million people out of an estimated population of 23 million are in ‘‘severe hardship’’.

:: The relentless civil war has also caused millions to become homeless, including as many as 900,000 in the last 12 months.

:: The World Food Programme, which has been helping feed 3.8 million people has warned food supplies are threatened because of Pakistan closing its border.

:: Refugees on the Pakistan border are being housed in camps where authorities have provided tents and basic cooking facilities, but which lack water and sanitation.

:: On the Iranian border, the UN’s High Commission for Refugees and the Iranian government have identified seven sites for tent cities to house the expected influx.

:: The worse conditions have been at the border between Afghanistan and the town of Chaman in Pakistan, where up to 10,000 people are waiting at any one time in the desert heat.

:: There have been reports of diarrhoea breaking out in the town of Chaman in Pakistan, and officials from local agencies and the UN fear deteriorating conditions as the refugees wait to get into Pakistan.

:: Around 100,000 people, half the population of the Taliban’s southern stronghold of Kandahar, have reportedly fled the city and headed for the safety of the countryside or the Chaman crossing 74 miles to the east.

:: The effort by the UN’s High Commission for Refugees is said to be the biggest ever in advance of a military action.

:: A spokesman for the UN’s High Commission for Refugees said: ‘‘It’s fair to say that never before have we needed an operation so large ahead of a possible crisis.’’