Concern pair escape by raft to Tajikistan

Two Irish staff members with the relief agency Concern have safely left Afghanistan following a dramatic 12-hour flight by road and raft.

Mr Niall Roche, an environmental health officer from Baldoyle, Co Dublin, and Mr Donal Reilly, an engineer from Terenure, Dublin, are reported safe and well in the Tajik capital Dushanbe. They crossed the frontier from north-west Afghanistan late on Saturday night.

They have been co-ordinating Concern's relief programme in Rustaq, which was hit by an earthquake which left thousands of people homeless earlier this year.

Because of the insecurity in the region, most other agencies had already pulled out their staff.

However, following the US military strikes on alleged Islamic fundamentalist training camps in the region last week, the pair were forced to join an exodus of expatriates. An Italian military observer with the UN died at the weekend after being shot in the Afghan capital Kabul, presumably in revenge for the US attacks.

Concern had put its staff on alert to leave Rustaq last week. But like other expatriates in the region, the Irish pair were prevented from travelling to Pakistan because UN support flights had been cancelled.

Fighting in Afghanistan's civil war has moved to within 50km (30 miles) of Rustaq in recent weeks. The anti-Taliban alliance has removed bridges on main roads to stop the Taliban advance. This has also blocked off the main escape route.

Along with one Dutch and three French aid workers, the Irish pair were forced to flee towards Tajikistan, the only remaining exit route.

They left at first light on Saturday, travelling by road to the border. There, they were met by representatives of a French agency, ACTED, who escorted them on a raft to Dushanbe.

Mr Roche established Concern's relief programme in Rustaq earlier this year. As well as providing emergency shelter and food aid, the agency had begun a longer-term project to provide earthquake-resistant housing.

A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said last night that he was unaware if there were any other Irish people in Afghanistan. The Department had warned over two years ago against travelling to the country.