Human Rights Watch in a statement on Wednesday called for the release of two ‌UN staffers and six NGO workers in Afghanistan.

HRW said that six male staff working with the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) had been “forcibly disappeared” from the NGO’s Kabul ​office last month. The NGO has been involved in aid programmes and advocacy on women’s ​and children’s rights, HRW said.

In a separate incident, Human Rights Watch also called ⁠for the release of two Afghan staff members of the UN’s Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), who were ​detained by IEA officials in the western city of Herat on Sunday.

The IEA’s spokesman, ​Zabihullah Mujahid, told Reuters that he was “trying to gather details” about the recent detentions, but had “not received final clarity.”

The UN confirmed the detention of two of its staffers earlier this week. “UNAMA has not been informed of the charges against them ​and has not been permitted to visit them,” Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said ​in a briefing on Wednesday.

Fereshta Abbasi, Afghanistan Researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the detentions ‌of UNAMA ⁠staff threatened the UN’s “ability to deliver lifesaving aid.”

As the UN’s political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA is involved in human rights monitoring and data gathering. Its reports have frequently been criticised by the IEA government in the past.

Nearly one in 10 Afghan children under five is suffering from acute malnutrition as funding cuts force the closure or suspension of hundreds of health facilities, Save the Children said in a statement this week.

The organisation said wasting worsened in two-thirds of Afghanistan’s provinces in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year. Acute malnutrition among children under five has risen by 14% over four years, affecting an estimated 3.7 million children this year.

At the same time, humanitarian funding has fallen by almost 70%, from $3.27 billion in 2022 to $1 billion in 2025. Only $438 million has been secured so far in 2026, leaving a 74% funding gap.

Save the Children said nearly 600 health facilities have closed or suspended services because of funding cuts, affecting around four million people, half of them children.

About 700,000 people, including 140,000 children under five, have lost access to primary healthcare since Save the Children-supported facilities and mobile teams were closed or scaled back because of funding shortages since early 2025.

In a remote mountainous area of northern Afghanistan, the organisation runs the only healthcare facility serving around 10,000 people. The clinic sees more than 100 patients a day, with some walking two to three hours for treatment.

Save the Children said residents who cannot afford the roughly $60 journey to the nearest city hospital would face a seven-hour walk if the clinic closes.

The organisation has kept 14 clinics operating through short-term funding but warned that their future remains uncertain.

Ashish Damle, Save the Children’s country director in Afghanistan, said worsening hunger, mass returns from Iran and Pakistan, displacement, disasters, conflict and prolonged drought were placing humanitarian resources under severe pressure.

“The world cannot look away,” Damle said, warning that poverty, water shortages, illness and declining household incomes were also increasing child labour and disrupting education.

Save the Children said Afghanistan’s population has grown by up to 12% since September 2023, while more than six million Afghans have returned from Iran and Pakistan amid tighter policies affecting Afghan nationals.

The organisation, which has worked in Afghanistan since 1976, currently operates programmes in nine provinces and works with partners in another 11.

Last year, it reached more than two million people, including nearly 5,000 children treated for severe acute malnutrition and 1.4 million people who received outpatient consultations.

The stage is set for the draw for the 2026-27 AFC Champions League Elite, with Saudi Arabian giants Al-Nassr seeded one tier above rivals Al-Hilal ahead of Tuesday’s ceremony in Kuala Lumpur.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed the draw mechanism for the expanded league phase, which will feature 32 clubs divided equally between the West and East regions.

In each region, 16 teams will be split into four pots of four. Every club will play eight matches against eight different opponents, with four games at home and four away. Clubs will not face teams from their own national association during the league phase.

Al-Nassr, returning to the competition after missing last season’s edition, have been placed in Pot 2 alongside Uzbekistan’s Neftchi, Iraq’s Air Force Club and UAE side Shabab Al-Ahli.

Al-Hilal, one of the most successful clubs in Asian football, are in Pot 3 alongside Qatar’s Al-Gharafa, Iran’s Tractor and UAE club Al-Wasl.

Defending champions Al-Ahli headline Pot 1, alongside Al-Ain of the UAE, Qatar’s Al-Sadd and Iran’s Esteghlal.

Pot 4 consists of Saudi Arabia’s Al-Qadsiah and Al-Ittihad, Qatar’s Al-Shamal and Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor.

The draw will use a fixed grid rather than individually selecting eight opponents for each club. Teams will be placed into four columns, with the position determining their home and away opponents.

The AFC has also introduced country-protection measures to ensure clubs from the same national association are not placed in positions that would result in them meeting during the league phase.

The East Region will follow the same format, with clubs including Kashima Antlers, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Buriram United, Shanghai Port, Vissel Kobe and Pohang Steelers among the participants.

The top eight teams from each region will advance to the Round of 16, which is scheduled to take place from March 1 to 17, 2027.

The competition will then move to Saudi Arabia for a centralised final stage, with the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final scheduled from April 23 to May 1, 2027.

Al-Ahli will begin their title defence seeking to make history by becoming the first club to win the revamped AFC Champions League Elite three times in succession.

The draw takes place on Tuesday, August 18, at AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, with the outcome set to determine the first major matchups of the new Asian club season.

Fan in Afghanistan can meanwhile tune in on Tuesday, August 18, at 12.30pm Kabul time to watch the draw live and exclusively on Ariana Television.