Five years after the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, a new report by Refugees International warns that the country’s humanitarian crisis has entered a more dangerous phase following major cuts to U.S. aid.

The report says the abrupt termination of U.S. humanitarian assistance in 2025 has contributed to the closure of health facilities, the loss of thousands of healthcare workers and the weakening of critical lifesaving services.

Based on 555 surveys, interviews with healthcare workers and data collected from hospitals and health facilities across Afghanistan, the report documents cases of preventable deaths and rising maternal and newborn mortality.

Refugees International says the findings offer some of the strongest evidence to date that reductions in U.S. humanitarian funding are having deadly consequences for Afghans.

The organization has called for urgent attention to the impact of the funding cuts, warning that Afghanistan continues to face severe humanitarian and healthcare challenges.

Declining humanitarian funding is putting millions of Afghans at greater risk, with women and girls facing some of the most severe consequences as health facilities close and essential services are reduced, CARE has warned.

The international humanitarian organization said 21.9 million people in Afghanistan will need humanitarian assistance in 2026. Between April and September, an estimated 13.8 million people are expected to face crisis levels of acute food insecurity, while nearly 3.7 million children under five and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition.

CARE said funding shortages have already forced it to close 30 clinics this year, while the World Health Organization has reported that about 150 health facilities nationwide have suspended operations or closed since January because of funding shortfalls.

The closures are raising particular concerns for pregnant women in a country where maternal mortality remains extremely high. Afghanistan has a maternal mortality rate of 638 deaths per 100,000 live births, which CARE describes as the highest in Asia.

“Emergency assistance remains essential, but it is not enough,” said Mohammad Akmal Shareef, CARE’s Country Director in Afghanistan, calling for sustained investment in healthcare, education, nutrition, livelihoods and local civil society organizations.

Shareef also emphasized the critical role of female healthcare and humanitarian workers in reaching women and girls who may otherwise struggle to access assistance.

CARE estimates that more than 10 million Afghan women and girls will require humanitarian assistance in 2026, making the continued presence of trained female doctors, nurses, teachers and aid workers particularly important.

The organization urged the international community to maintain engagement with Afghanistan and provide longer-term funding for essential services, arguing that the country needs support that extends beyond emergency relief and helps communities strengthen resilience and move toward greater stability.

CARE has operated in Afghanistan since 1961. The organization said it reached approximately 1.2 million people in 2025, with women and girls accounting for 67 percent of those reached. It currently supports 32 health facilities in Balkh, Paktya, Khost, Ghazni and Herat provinces

Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Islamic Emirate’s Foreign Minister, met with Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh, Iran’s Minister of Agriculture Jihad, in Kabul on Thursday.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry said the two sides held comprehensive discussions on bilateral relations, expanding economic and transit cooperation, and holding the seventh meeting of the Joint Economic Commission between the two countries.

Muttaqi welcomed the progress in practical economic and transit cooperation between Afghanistan and Iran, saying there are further opportunities to expand bilateral ties.

Iran’s agriculture minister also stressed the importance of making use of existing opportunities for cooperation in various sectors and called for expanding current areas of cooperation.