GENEVA (AFP) - The UN refugee agency on Tuesday started a campaign to help tens of thousands of Afghans through freezing temperatures in the coming months, handing out blankets and clothes in Kabul. UNHCR has begun distributing blankets, warm clothes, charcoal and other winter supplies to 1,500 Afghans in the capital, said Andrej Mahecic, spokesman for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The distribution was part of a nationwide campaign to help some 200,000 vulnerable Afghans survive in temperatures which can drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius (minus 22 Fahrenheit) in parts of the country, said Mahecic in Geneva. The UN has sent supplies to its regional offices across Afghanistan, including more than 177,000 blankets, 60,000 plastic sheets, 60,000 jerry cans and 620,000 items of warm clothing, to be handed out locally. Supplies were strategically moved to the areas with harsh winters, such as the western region, where heavy snow would otherwise impede access, the spokesman said. The refugee agency hopes the delivery of supplies, being carried out with the help of the Afghan government and other groups, will be complete by the end of December. Also on Monday, the UN launched an appeal for 871 million dollars (578 million euros) for Afghanistan, as part of efforts to rise billions in humanitarian aid for 2010.