Afghan kids overcome Taliban sanctions, take-off for a better life

Dressed in local costumes, most of the boys and girls who boarded the Ariana Boeing 727 were disabled in the course of Afghanistan’s long war.

"I am happy to go for the treatment which is impossible to do here. I hope to recover soon," said one girl who limped onto the airliner.

The childrens’ treatment in the German city of Dusseldorf has been arranged by a German charity group, Peace Village.

Under the exemption granted by the U N committee, the Ariana plane will be allowed to fly the children to Dusseldorf and to pick up en route additional sick youngsters in Tajikistan, Armenia and Georgia, a U N spokesman in New York said earlier.

The Ariana flight will on its return, bring back to Afghanistan 80 children who have recovered from treatment in Germany.

At least 225 people were killed and more than 4,000 wounded when the U S embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were hit by almost simultaneous blasts. Most of the casualties were caused by the Nairobi explosion.

The Taliban, which rules about 90 per cent of the war-torn country, has refused to expell the Afghanistan-based bin Laden.