The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that escalating violence along Afghanistan’s eastern, southern and western borders is deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis, placing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable families at greater risk of hunger and displacement.

Speaking via video link from Bangkok at a press briefing in Geneva, WFP Afghanistan Representative and Country Director John Aylieff said renewed fighting along the disputed Durand Line frontier with Pakistan and ongoing violence in Iran are compounding years of conflict, economic collapse and natural disasters.

Afghanistan shares a roughly 2,400-kilometre frontier with Pakistan, affecting nearly one-third of its provinces. Since late February, intensified violence along the Durand Line has displaced an estimated 20,000 families across eastern, southeastern and southern regions.

Air and ground strikes have reportedly impacted more than 30 districts in Nangarhar, Nuristan, Kunar, Laghman, Paktika, Paktya, Khost, Kandahar and Helmand provinces.

As a result, WFP has temporarily suspended emergency food distributions, school feeding programmes, social protection initiatives and livelihood support activities in several affected areas. Approximately 160,000 people have been impacted by the suspension of emergency food assistance.

The renewed conflict has struck communities still recovering from the August 31 earthquake that devastated parts of eastern Afghanistan, particularly in mountainous Kunar and Nangarhar provinces. Many families who lost homes and livelihoods in that disaster now find themselves once again on the frontline of violence.

WFP noted that more than half of the affected districts were already facing emergency levels of hunger, while four of the impacted provinces are experiencing critical levels of acute child malnutrition.

On Afghanistan’s western border, ongoing instability in Iran is raising concerns about a new wave of returnees. Afghanistan recorded more than 2.5 million returns from Iran and Pakistan in 2025, and projections for 2026 had already anticipated similar numbers before the latest escalation.

Increased fighting could drive even higher returns, further straining limited resources.

WFP said it supported over half a million returnees at border crossings in 2025 with cash assistance, fortified biscuits and specialized nutrition support for women and children.

For many returnees, coming home means confronting unemployment, food shortages and renewed insecurity.

WFP shared the example of a father of four who returned from Iran after losing his factory job, only to find no work and insufficient food for his family in Afghanistan. Such cases underscore the growing vulnerability of returnees amid deteriorating conditions.

Funding shortfalls threaten aid response

Afghanistan remains one of the world’s most severe hunger crises, with 17.4 million people — roughly one in three Afghans — in urgent need of food assistance. An estimated 3.7 million children are projected to require treatment for acute malnutrition in 2026.

WFP warned that its emergency operations face a critical funding shortfall. By April 2026, funding for life-saving assistance is expected to run out unless additional support is secured.

The agency requires $313 million over the next six months to sustain operations.

With rising displacement, potential mass returns and ongoing conflict, WFP urged the international community not to scale back support at what it described as a pivotal moment for Afghanistan’s humanitarian response.