Note: The below press release from the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) highlights that the conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan is having deadly and devastating consequences. More than 115,000 people have been displaced by the violence and many are living in informal camps with little support.
Oslo, 13 March 2026 – Escalating conflict along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border is having a devastating impact on civilians in eastern Afghanistan, displacing 115,000 people since 26 February. Civilians must be protected and humanitarian organizations must be granted safe access to reach families in need, said the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
In the first eight days of the conflict 56 civilians were killed and a further 129 injured.
“Afghanistan is facing crisis on top of crisis, and it is civilians who are paying the highest price,” said Jacopo Caridi, NRC’s country director for Afghanistan. “All parties to the conflict must abide by international humanitarian law and ensure civilians, and civilian infrastructure, are protected.”
“Families who were already on the brink of survival have been forced from their homes. Thousands have found refuge in makeshift camps and with local families. Others are being forced to rent sub-standard accommodation they can little afford. They have lost access to clean water, health services, and schooling. We urgently need funding to be able to scale up our support to these families.”
826 homes have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict. NRC teams speaking with displaced communities in Kunar and Nangarhar provinces reported particular concern for child- and women-headed households and the elderly, many of whom said they had received no assistance.
More than 25,000 people who were displaced by the earthquake in Kunar province six months ago are subject to evacuation orders. They have been forced to return to their areas of origin, where little to no services are available, risking their health and wellbeing. Another 14,500 people are at risk of being displaced for a second time.
Afghanistan has been hit hard by aid funding cuts and currently is one of the lowest funded humanitarian responses globally. Now conflict is preventing people from accessing even the limited support available. NRC has been forced to suspend education classes in Khost province due to the conflict meaning 626 children have lost access to education.
Health services at more than 20 facilities have been suspended due to insecurity, including five which have been damaged in airstrikes and shelling. World Food Programme (WFP) were also forced to temporarily suspend food distributions.
NRC is scaling up its support to affected families as quickly as possible, including providing cash to more than 4,300 people to allow them to buy what they need the most. Another 4,000 displaced people will be given cash in the coming days.
“We left everything behind,” said Bakhtiar, a father of six, who fled from Torkham, near the border with Pakistan. “Our belongings, our clothes, everything. We don’t even know what has happened to our house.”
NRC supported the family with cash which Bakhtiar says will help for some time. “But if this conflict continues, it will not be enough. We have lost everything. We ask the international community not to forget us. We are living in very difficult conditions and have nothing left,” Bakhtiar adds.
Afghans in Iran are also being affected by instability in the region. Iran hosts more than 4.4 million Afghans, up to 1.4 million of whom are undocumented and at risk of forced return.
Some families are returning to Afghanistan due to safety concerns, with a reported 1,700 people currently returning daily. One Afghan man who returned told NRC teams: “If the war had not started, I would not have returned. Survival became impossible.”
“With a world in turmoil, Afghans must not be forgotten,” said Caridi. “Rising food prices and closed borders are making survival even harder for families whose lives have already been shattered by conflict.”
Notes to editors:
- From the evening of 26 February to 3 March, airstrikes and border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan affected ten provinces in Afghanistan: Kabul, Kandahar, Khost, Kunar, Laghman, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Parwan, Paktia and Paktika. A total of 115,000 people have been displaced as of 5 March (OCHA).
- Between 26 February to 5 March 2026, 56 civilians were killed and a further 129 injured in Afghanistan by indirect fire and aerial attacks (UNAMA).
- Health services at more than 20 facilities have been suspended due to the insecurity, including five which have been damaged in airstrikes and shelling (Health cluster).
- 826 homes have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict including 103 which have been completely destroyed (CRNA).
- Some 3,640 families (25,480 people) displaced following the 31 August 2025 eastern region earthquake and living in informal settlements in Kunar Province have been evacuated or received evacuation orders due to their proximity to a military compound and forced to return to their areas of origin. A further 2,074 families (14,520 people) earthquake IDPs living in Kunar and Nangarhar face the prospect of secondary displacement (OCHA).
- NRC provided 4,300 displaced people in Nangarhar province with cash support and will continue to support families in need with cash in the coming weeks. We are working to further scale up our support to families affected.
- 21 NRC education classes in border districts of Khost Province were suspended on 1 March due to the conflict. As a result, 626 children have lost access to education.
- Already this year, around 110,000 Afghans have returned from Iran, with roughly 1,700 each day since the onset of the conflict in the Middle East. Over 5 million Afghans returned from neighbouring countries over the past two years – including almost 1.9 million from Iran in 2025 alone (UNHCR).
- NRC’s February press release on six months after the Kunar earthquake outlines the harsh conditions displaced people in the area are facing and compounding factor of lack of funding.
- In 2026, 21.9 million people across Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance, with 17.4 million people food insecure (OCHA).
- A total of 1.71 billion US dollars is required to meet the needs of 17.5 million people targeted for assistance. As of mid-March, just 178.5 million, or 10.4 per cent, has been delivered (OCHA).
- Iran is currently home to more than 4.4 million Afghans, 1.4 million of whom are undocumented (UNHCR).
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:
NRC has teams on the ground supporting families, photo and b-roll is available here, and we have spokespeople in Kabul, who have just returned from the border area.
Please get in touch to arrange an interview.
- NRC global media hotline: media@nrc.no, +47 905 62 329
- Maisam Shafiey, advocacy and communication manager, Kabul, Afghanistan: Maisam.Shafiey@nrc.no, +93706453029
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