CHILDREN are the first to suffer during war.

Already this is the case in Afghanistan, where of the estimated 7.5 million Afghans who may have to rely on aid to survive, 70 per cent will be children and women, with 20 percent being children under the age of five.

UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, has launched an emergency appeal for £24m to provide life-saving medicines, water purification supplies, nutritional supplements for malnourished youngsters, oral re-hydration salts to combat the deadly effects of diarrhoea, and other relief items including blankets, clothing, water containers, and education kits for makeshift classrooms.

We ask your readers to please find it in their hearts to support our efforts to help the innocent children of Afghanistan.

LINDA McCAUGHEY, UNICEF, Afghanistan Crisis Appeal, PO Box 186, Tweedale, TF3 5UZ.