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Funding urgently needed as thousands homeless after Afghanistan quake, says UN
Urgent funding is needed to scale up life-saving support for families forced to sleep outdoors following powerful earthquakes that recently struck eastern Afghanistan, the UN’s migration agency said on Thursday.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is appealing for $16.8 million, in line with the United Nations joint humanitarian appeal, to provide emergency shelter and health care for 134,000 people, Reuters reported.
“Families have lost everything and are now sleeping in the open, without proper shelter, food or clean water,” said IOM Deputy Director General Ugochi Daniels.
The 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck on the night of August 31 into September 1, killing more than 2,200 people, destroying more than 7,000 homes and affecting nearly half a million people, according to IOM.
The agency warned that the situation could worsen without urgent support as winter approaches, with women and children facing particular protection risks due to unsafe conditions, lack of privacy and limited access to basic services.
More than 2,000 families have already received assistance from IOM in Nangarhar and Kunar, after relief teams navigated blocked roads and damaged infrastructure.
IOM has raised the alarm that urgent funding is needed as the country faces multiple crises, including the return of more than 1.7 million Afghans from Iran and Pakistan in 2025.
According to IOM data, nearly 800,000 internally displaced persons and returning Afghan migrants already live in extremely vulnerable conditions in the affected provinces.
The U.N. considers Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis to be among the worst in the world, but funding is down 35% since last year due to cuts from major donors, including the United States.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that security risks in Central Asia and developments in Afghanistan are among the primary concerns for the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
The CSTO is a regional military alliance that includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Speaking in Moscow during a meeting with CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov, Lavrov described the region’s security challenges as “central” to the organization’s agenda.
“The problems that are currently among the central ones for the CSTO are new challenges and threats. I am referring to the situation in the Central Asian region of collective security, as well as everything related to what is happening in Afghanistan,” he said.
He praised Masadykov as “one of the leading experts” on Central Asian security, noting that his experience could enhance coordination and increase the effectiveness of allied actions.
Similar to NATO, the CSTO considers an attack on one member state as an attack on all.
Countries in the region have always expressed concern about security threats from Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate, however, has dismissed these concerns and assured that it will not allow Afghanistan’s soil to be used against another country.
The Ministry of Higher Education of Afghanistan has announced that the leader of the Islamic Emirate has approved the establishment of a faculty dedicated to “Prophetic Medicine.”
According to the ministry, this new faculty will play a vital role in advancing medical sciences and training skilled healthcare professionals across the country.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs, Noorullah Noori, has announced that the long-delayed demarcation and renovation of border markers along the Afghanistan–Iran frontier will officially begin in the near future.
According to a statement from the ministry, Noori made the remarks during a meeting with Iran’s ambassador to Kabul, Ali-Reza Bikdeli.
He assured the Iranian side that the Islamic Emirate is fully committed to accelerating the process and resolving any challenges that may arise during implementation.
In a separate statement, the Iranian Embassy in Kabul said Bikdeli underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation on border issues, describing it as a key factor in strengthening and expanding overall relations between the two countries.
Officials from both sides agreed nearly three months ago to resume the border-marker renovation project, which had remained stalled for the past seven years.
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