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97% of Afghan population now facing food shortages: UN

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Millions of Afghans are now experiencing intense food shortages following the collapse of the former government and Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) takeover in August.

As Muslims around the world celebrated Eid-Uk-Fitr, experts say that for most Afghans, it was simply another day of struggle to put food on the table.

According to the United Nations, 97 percent of Afghans are experiencing food shortages.

Following the IEA’s takeover in August, most Western aid was stopped. Hospitals and schools are unable to pay their employees, and many people are unable to purchase food, exacerbating an already dire crisis.

In a phone interview from her home in Afghanistan, a woman, who asked to remain anonymous, told Canada’s CTV News that she and her children struggled during Ramadan after months of limited access to food, which meant they had little to eat to break their fast in the evenings.

She says that without an adult male family member, their main source of income has been cut off, and the meal they received from a local charity on Eid for iftar was their first complete meal in months.

“When it comes to food shortages, it is so much worse than we can see,” said Noorain Noorani, the executive director of The Zahra Foundation, a registered charity with offices in Canada and the U.K. working to provide food and safe drinking water to impacted communities in Afghanistan.

“Political instability has continued to lead to displacement, loss of income, and access to education, and is contributing to the ongoing cycle of chronic poverty,” she said.

Over the past few months, the country has suffered a deadly series of bombings, including at mosques in Kabul, Kunduz and Mazar-e Sharif – an increased level of violence that Noorani says is compounding the food crisis.

The Zahra Foundation is one of the many organizations on the ground in Afghanistan that offered meal packages on Eid as Muslims broke their fasts with iftar.

“On Eid, we offered meals to anyone who needed them, and not just the civilians who’ve registered with us. But in the past few months, there are now more people on the waitlist than ever before,” said Noorani.

According to the United Nations World Food Program, more than 22 million people, or more than half of the country’s population, are suffering from acute hunger, with the majority unable to predict when their next meal would arrive.

This is a significant rise from September 2020, when over 14 million people were on the verge of becoming hungry. According to the group, 97 percent of the population had insufficient food consumption in December, and they were adopting ways to cope with their circumstances, such as skipping a meal.

The situation has gotten worse since a drought hit Afghanistan in October 2020. The UN says more than 40 percent of all crops have been lost, and livestock has been devastated due to the severe weather.

The United Nations World Food Programme in Afghanistan reached 376,139 people in Kabul in March 2022 for financial and food assistance, with the latest numbers for those supported in Eid still being tallied.

The IEA-controlled government has been cut off from the international economy since the fall of Kabul in August and the departure of U.S. soldiers, resulting in a currency crisis, widespread poverty, and the collapse of critical public services including health care.

The UN and its partners sought more than US$5 billion for the year in mid-January, more than the agency has ever requested for a single country.

The majority of the aid, US$4.4 billion, would go to Afghans within the nation. The remainder would be used to help the millions of Afghan refugees living in neighbouring countries such as Iran and Pakistan.

But there are concerns that Afghanistan still isn’t receiving enough international support.

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Afghanistan has legal right to defend itself against interference: Hanafi

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Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi says if anyone attempts to interfere in the internal affairs of the country, it is Afghanistan’s religious and international right to defend itself.

Hanafi made these remarks during the inauguration ceremony of a commercial complex in Kabul.

“If someone interferes in Afghanistan’s internal affairs, it is Afghanistan’s undeniable, religious, and international right to defend itself. If someone throws a stone at us, we will be compelled to respond, even if it means throwing a mud-brick back at them,” said Hanafi.

Hanafi also reiterated the importance of positive interaction and good relations with countries in the region and the world, emphasizing that tension among neighboring countries benefits no one.

He stated: “It is in no neighboring country’s interest to have tension among them. The better the relations, the more it benefits the people of the neighboring countries. Therefore, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan always supports this peaceful policy and friendly relations.”

“The policy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan towards the world is that we seek positive engagement with everyone,” he added.

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IEA rejects Pakistan’s claim of Daesh recruiting in Afghanistan

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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has rejected claims made by Pakistan’s representative to the UN Security Council, Munir Akram, that Afghanistan is an ISIS (Daesh) “recruitment center”.

According to a statement issued by the foreign ministry, the IEA said the claims were unfounded and accused Pakistan of trying to shift focus away from its own internal issues.

The ministry reiterated that since the IEA’s return to power significant strides have been made to eradicate Daesh and other extremist groups in Afghanistan.

The foreign ministry stated that Pakistan is using these allegations as a distraction from its own instability. The ministry urged the international community to recognize the progress made in Afghanistan and to refrain from placing blame on the country.

This comes after Monday’s UN Security Council meeting where the threat of Daesh was discussed. The UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism, Vladimir Voronkov, said ISIS-K in Afghanistan (Daesh) “supporters plotted attacks in Europe and were actively seeking to recruit individuals from Central Asian States”.

Voronkov provided details on the global terrorism landscape during the past six months, and said “in Afghanistan, ISIL-Khorasan (Daesh) continued to pose a significant threat”.

Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations also raised the issue of ISIS-K in Afghanistan and said the “access terrorist groups like ISIS have to leftover American weapons in Afghanistan” was concerning.

Afghanistan meanwhile does not have an Islamic Emirate representative at the UN and has repeatedly called for their seat to be handed over to them, stating any discussions on or including Afghanistan were meaningless without the IEA’s participation.

The Islamic Emirate has also repeatedly rejected claims of Daesh being active in Afghanistan and have said that the group has been eradicated in the country.

On the subject of US weapons in the country, the IEA has described such concerns as baseless and repeatedly stated that all US weapons and military equipment left behind are secured by the government, with no group or individual having access to them.

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Karzai condemns Kunduz bombing

The Qatar government was also quick to condemn the incident and expressed its condolences to the families of victims.

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Afghanistan’s former president Hamid Karzai has strongly condemned the explosion that rocked Kunduz city on Tuesday, leaving at least five people dead.

In a post on X, Karzai called the incident “an act against human and Islamic principles”.

The incident took place outside a Kabul Bank branch in the city when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives.

The Qatar government was also quick to condemn the incident and expressed its condolences to the families of victims.

According to a statement issued by Qatar’s Foreign Affairs, Doha is fully committed to “the rejection of violence and terrorism, regardless of the motives and causes”.

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