FOOD STOCKS IN AFGHANISTAN COULD RUN OUT BY MONTH’S END, UN WARNS

Thu 02 September 2021:

The United Nations is warning that Afghanistan could face a food crisis within a month, leaving one out of three people hungry, as the Taliban tries to form a new government to run the country.

“The situation… from a humanitarian perspective continues to be extremely tense,” Ramiz Alakbarov, UN humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, said on Wednesday, adding that more than half the children in the country already struggle to find the next meal.

“We will not be able to provide those essential food items because we’ll be out of stocks, and for us to keep the current demand, we need at least $200 million only for the food sector, to be able to provide the food to the most vulnerable,” the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in Afghanistan, Ramiz Alakbarov, told reporters from the capital Kabul.

Alakbarov also noted that at least one third of Afghanistan’s population does not know how long they will have to deal with food insecurity.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Afghanistan is facing an impending “humanitarian catastrophe” as the Taliban take control of the war-torn nation.

“A humanitarian catastrophe looms,” he said in a statement. “Amid a severe drought and with harsh winter conditions on the horizon, extra food, shelter and health supplies must be urgently fast-tracked into the country.”

The Taliban seized Afghanistan after taking control of Kabul on Aug. 15, forcing President Ashraf Ghani and other top officials to leave the country.

The US on Monday announced the completion of its efforts to withdraw all of its forces from Afghanistan, bringing to an end the longest war in American history.

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