New York, August 26 – The United Nations has condemned the bomb attacks in Kabul and outside its airport thronged with fleeing Afghans and foreigners, saying that the situation has strengthened its resolve to continue to help the country after the Taliban’s swift military takeover.
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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