Fransesc Vendrell , the United Nations Secretary General's special envoy for Afghanistan, visited Kabul to promote peace. Vendrell met with Afghan Foreign Minister Maulvi Wakil Ahmed Murtawakel .
The World Food Program reported that the drought situation in Kandahar province and Zabul province were desperate. The Koochis had lost up to 80% of their cattle and irrigation systems built to collect rainwater had dried up. Apricot and almond trees had withered and were without fruit. Camels were dying. Since February, the WFP had been feeding 30,000 families in the region and planned on adding another 10,000 families in May. The WFP was offering Afghans additional flour as an incentive if they remain in their villages.
Dozens of Afghans awaiting the decision of their requests for asylum staged a demonstration in front of the Parliament House in Stockholm, Sweden. They called on officials to quicken their requests for immigration and positively respond to them.
Under a decree by Supreme Leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan released approximately 300 opposition prisoners from the Pulicharkhi jail in central Kabul. Many of those released were elderly. The decree was described as a goodwill gesture to mark the anniversary of the defeat of Afghanistan's communist government in 1992. About 1,500 prisoners remained in the jail.
In the Darra-e-Noor area of the Khewa district in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, dozens were killed in a clash between Taliban forces and supporters of Hazrat Ali , commander of the defunct Eastern Shoora . Taliban forces made a two kilometer advance in the area.
Northern Alliance forces captured three Taliban military posts in Parwan province. Five Taliban militiamen were killed in the attack. The Taliban claimed these offensives were illegal under international rules because they occurred during an agreed cease fire meant to allow the U.N. to carry out a poliovaccination campaign. The Taliban voiced concerns that the U.N. made no condemnation of the breach by the Northern Alliance.
The Northern Alliance accused the Taliban of executing at least 26 people in the Gusfandi district of Afghanistan after the area fell to Taliban forces.
The Revolutionary Association of the Afghan Women appealed to Pakistan to change its policy towards the Taliban and to condemn Taliban atrocities against Afghan women.
Three people were killed and a number wounded in a clash between the Taliban and Hezb-e-Wahdat forces in Dara-e-Souf district Samangan province, Afghanistan.
UNICEF announced that over the past three weeks the measles had killed nearly 100 children in Tolak district , Ghor province , Afghanistan, and over 50 children in the Yaftalafain district of Badakhshan province. This brought the death toll to more than 1000. The outbreak first erupted in Dara-e-Souf district , Samangan province in January. UNICEF dispatched vaccine and other medicines to the areas.
A six-month repatriation program designed by Iran and the UNHCR for Afghanrefugees began. Under the agreement, 3000 refugees would be repatriated to Afghanistan every week.
Speaking at the Tashkent University of World Economy and Diplomacy, United States Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright promised $10 million in aid to Uzbekistan to help secure its border with Afghanistan. She called on the nations bordering Afghanistan to form open and democratic societies as a defense against extremism and terrorism. Albright also announced that the U.S. government was giving US$3 million apiece to help train border patrols in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and to buy four-wheel drive vehicles for the rugged terrain.
After reaching an agreement with the UNHCR, Iran started a repatriation program that would send 7,700 Afghanrefugees back to their homeland over the next three weeks.
