THE US bombing raids on Afghanistan could dramatically increase water
shortages in this drought-stricken country.
Military authorities are increasingly talking of introducing a new phase to
the bombing campaign, using “bunker bombs” to flush out Osama bin Laden, his
al-Qaida group and Taliban fighters from hillside tunnels that riddle the
landscape. These same ancient tunnels are a vital source of water for hundreds
of villages.
And last month an American bombing raid damaged a hydroelectric power station
close to the Kajaki dam, Afghanistan’s largest. As well as supplying electricity
to the region, the station drives machinery that controls the flow…
