Hundreds of families displaced in Helmand: Red Crescent

The Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) says about 500 families in Helmand Province have been temporarily forced out of their homes following recent military operations there by Afghan government and NATO forces. "People have been displaced in Garmsir, Nad Ali and Sangheen districts where military operations have been going on," Ahmadullah Ahmadi, provincial director of ARCS, told IRIN. The Society says it has dozens of workers in Helmand. People had fled to nearby areas, and some had moved to the provincial capital, Lashkargah, to live with relatives, he added. Over 2,000 of the 3,700-4,000 families displaced from their homes in the Marjah area during a large-scale military operation in February have remained in Lashkargah for security reasons, provincial head of the refugee affairs department, Farooq Noorzai, told IRIN. "People say the situation in Marjah is not good for them to return," he said, adding that most families were living in rented rooms and some migrant workers had returned to their own houses. Officials said those displaced from Marjah received food and non-food aid in February-March, but had had no assistance in the past four months.