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UN announces new strategic framework to tackle Afghanistan crisis
The UN team in Afghanistan has launched a strategic planning document, ensuring the coordination of the UN team’s work to reduce the suffering of the people of Afghanistan by saving lives, sustaining essential services, such as health and education, and preserving essential community systems.
The One-UN Transitional Engagement Framework (TEF) aims to help Afghans meet their basic needs.
“This UN system wide strategy will help ensure that Afghans can meet their basic human needs; acting on this now is more important than ever to avoid that an even wider proportion of the population requires lifesaving humanitarian assistance,” said UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Dr. Ramiz Alakbarov.
He said this transitional engagement framework for Afghanistan is an important strategy as it allows the UN to provide essential life-saving humanitarian work and “provide and support basic human needs in Afghanistan.”
He said this framework enables the UN to work with 158 partners to provide the required support and vital assistance to maintain education and health services, to support community-based infrastructure and livelihoods and for the UN to expand assistance to the agricultural sector.
In addition, it will enable the organization to “support all the people of Afghanistan with specific focus on the needs of women and girls.”
This development comes at a critical time for Afghanistan as millions of people are facing extreme financial pressure.
In order to implement this framework, the UN needs $8billion – which includes $4.44 billion previously requested through the Humanitarian Response Plan, launched on 11 January.
The UN requires however an additional $3.6 billion in immediate funding to sustain essential social services such as health and education; support community systems through maintenance of basic infrastructure; and maintain critical capacities for service delivery and promotion of livelihoods and social cohesion, with specific emphasis on socio-economic needs of women and girls.
“The United Nations is grateful to all donors for their continued generous support of relief and recovery efforts in Afghanistan, demonstrating the strong solidarity of the international community with the people of Afghanistan,” said Alakbarov.
According to the UN, staying and delivering at the grassroots level across Afghanistan, the UN and partners will continue to engage in the sustained effort to meet humanitarian and basic human needs of Afghans, in compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 2615 adopted in December of 2021.
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Afghan official slams Shehbaz Sharif’s ‘shameful’ claims on Islamic unity
Khubaib Ghufran, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Ministry of Information and Culture, sharply criticized Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif over his recent claims about Islamic unity in relation to the war in Iran, calling them “shameful.”
On his X account, Ghaffran wrote: “You praised Trump as a hero of the Gaza peace plan, yet today you claim Islamic unity regarding Iran in a war that the same criminal (Trump) and his allies initiated?”
He added that while Afghanistan is governed under an Islamic system, Shehbaz Sharif has shown no compassion even toward the most vulnerable groups—from children to women and drug addicts—and that this cruelty persisted even during the holy month of Ramadan.
Ghaffran described Sharif’s stance as a “grave shame” and a stark example of “historical hypocrisy.”
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Airstrike on Kabul drug rehabilitation centre sparks legal concerns
Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Isabelle Lassee, said the scale of casualties suggests the presence of a significant civilian population at the site.
An airstrike on a drug rehabilitation facility in Kabul has drawn sharp criticism from Amnesty International, raising serious questions about compliance with international humanitarian law.
The strike, carried out on 16 March, targeted a site at Camp Phoenix, a former military base that has functioned largely as a rehabilitation centre since 2016. Pakistani officials have claimed the attack was aimed at an ammunition depot allegedly located within the compound.
Responding to those claims, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Isabelle Lassee, said the scale of casualties suggests the presence of a significant civilian population at the site.
“While the total number of casualties has yet to be independently verified, it is clear that the attack caused extensive civilian harm, with reports indicating hundreds killed or injured,” she said.
Lassee emphasized that the facility was widely known to house civilians undergoing treatment, and warned that any military action should have taken this into account. “Pakistan’s military should have taken all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians and civilian infrastructure,” she added.
She further noted that even if a military target had been present within the compound, international law requires that any strike be proportionate, ensuring that civilian harm is not excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
“The scale of destruction raises serious concerns about whether an adequate proportionality assessment was conducted and whether sufficient steps were taken to verify the target and minimize civilian casualties,” Lassee said.
Amnesty International has called on Pakistani authorities to disclose the intelligence behind the strike and to launch an independent, impartial, and transparent investigation into the incident. The organization stressed that findings should be made public to ensure accountability.
The group also urged all parties involved in the conflict to adhere strictly to international humanitarian law and to protect civilian infrastructure, including medical and rehabilitation facilities.
The airstrike formed part of Pakistan’s “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq,” which included strikes in both Kabul and Nangarhar Province. The targeted rehabilitation centre, known as Omid, reportedly had the capacity to accommodate around 2,000 individuals.
Casualty figures remain contested. Islamic Emirate officials claim more than 400 civilians were killed and over 200 injured, though these numbers have not been independently verified. The United Nations has so far confirmed 143 deaths.
The strike comes amid escalating tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, at least 76 civilian casualties had already been recorded since the conflict intensified in February.
Pakistani officials, meanwhile, reported civilian casualties on their side of the border, including four deaths in Bajaur district on 15 March and the killing of a child in North Waziristan earlier in the month, allegedly due to cross-border fire from Afghanistan.
The latest developments underscore growing concerns about civilian safety as hostilities between the two countries continue to intensify.
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