New York, August 27 – The bomb attacks in Kabul have accelerated the already tense and volatile situation in Afghanistan and the country’s humanitarian needs are expected to grow, an official of the World Health Organization said one day after the deadly explosions that targeted Afghan civilians and US soldiers at the Kabul airport.

The UN Security Council issued (August 27) a statement condemning the attacks in the strongest terms. The statement “reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. Deliberately targeting civilians and personnel assisting in the evacuation of civilians is especially abhorrent and must be condemned.”

UN officials also condemned the bomb attacks at a hotel in Kabul and near the airport thronged with fleeing Afghans and foreigners, which killed more than 100 Afghan civilians and 13 US soldiers. The UN said the attacks strengthened its resolve to continue to help the country after the Taliban’s swift military takeover. The Islamic State in Khorosan Province (ISKP) claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks.

“In the very fluid context of Afghanistan there are many uncertainties and unknowns,” Dr Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region.  “But what remains certain is that the humanitarian needs across the country are enormous and growing.”

Brenner joined other humanitarian organizations in warning that Afghanistan remains a “tough place to be a woman or a child.”

“We have to remember that maternal mortality rates have reduced by around 60 percent and child mortality rates by around 50 percent over the past two decades.” he said. “Moreover, thousands of health care workers have been trained, including female health workers – midwives, nurses, doctors and so on.  We cannot have a rolling back of those health gains.” 

WHO has staff in all 34 Afghan provinces assisting 2,200 local health facilities monitor the health situation and most of them remain open. Brenner said medical supplies are rapidly running out and WHO is not currently able to meet all demands at those facilities.

The fall of Afghanistan has exposed a dire humanitarian situation as nearly half of the country’s 40 million people need daily food rations and other assistance when there is no existing emergency supplies and available relief supplies will run out by October, UN agencies said.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is following with great concern the situation in Kabul, especially at the airport, which caused some casualties. He said Guterres “condemns this terrorist attack which killed and injured a number of civilians and extends his deep condolences to the families of those killed. He stands in solidarity and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.”

“This incident underscores the volatility of the situation on the ground in Afghanistan but also strengthens our resolve as we continue to deliver urgent assistance across the country in support of the Afghan people.”

The World Food Program, the lead UN agency in the global frontline against hunger, said 14 million Afghans are hungry daily and some 2 million malnourished children need also urgent health care.

The World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund are rushing medical supplies to treat increased number of Covid-19 cases and children in need of health care. UNICEF has 13 offices in Afghanistan and is supporting about 10 million children and their families affected by the humanitarian crisis.

The International Organization of Migration said more than 550,000 Afghans fled their homes since July to escape Taliban forces, swelling the number of internally displaced Afghans to 5.5 million.

The UN office for humanitarian assistance said 18.4 million Afghans need relief assistance but there is a shortfall of $200 million out of the total budget of $550 million for 2021.

UN News reports quoted WFP as saying that a humanitarian crisis of incredible proportion is unfolding in Afghanistan as conflict, combined with drought and COVID-19, is pushing Afghans into a humanitarian catastrophe. WFP said it urgently needs $200 million in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan and $22 million for refugees in Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

WFP said it needs to assist 9 million people per month by November and meeting this goal requires the prepositioning of food stocks in Afghanistan and at strategic border points before winter.

“The price of wheat has gone up by 25 per cent in the last months and, therefore, with the economic situation and with the turmoil in which the country has been thrown, it is very difficult now to see the future for this population a future which is food secure without malnourished children,” WFP Regional Director John Aylieff said, adding that WFP had planned to reach almost 500,000 people in and around Mazar, the fourth-largest city of Afghanistan, with wheat flour, oil, lentils and salt.

Transfers of food and health supplies became more difficult at the Kabul airport since Taliban forces took over the government in Kabul in mid-August and the tense military situation there.

 “As humanitarian needs in Afghanistan increase, the abilities to respond to those needs are rapidly declining,” WHO and UNICEF said in a statement on August 22. The agencies called for “immediate and unimpeded access to deliver medicines and other lifesaving supplies to millions of people in need of aid, including 300 000 people displaced in the last two months alone.”

“WHO and UNICEF are committed to stay and deliver for the people of Afghanistan,” the statement said.

“However, with no commercial aircraft currently permitted to land in Kabul, we have no way to get supplies into the country and to those in need.  Other humanitarian agencies are similarly constrained.

“WHO and UNICEF call for the immediate establishment of a humanitarian airbridge for the sustained and unimpeded delivery of aid into Afghanistan.  We are also closely following up with all UN and international partners to explore options for expediting aid shipments.” 

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