Avalanche near Kabul traps 20 cars, UN reports

An avalanche near a tunnel connecting Kabul with the northern part of Afghanistan has trapped about 20 vehicles, a United Nations spokesman said today.

The UN had received a request from the Interim Authority for assistance, the spokesman said, adding that while the world body did not have relevant equipment to free or rescue the people trapped near the Salang Tunnel, a team from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had gone to the area.

There were no reports of casualties at this time and no UN vehicles or personnel were in the area at the time of the avalanche, the spokesman said.