Over 300,000 people displaced due to conflict: UNOCHA report

In its weekly report the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) stated that as of November 30, Monday, 309,370 Afghans were displaced in the country due to conflict and 173,780 had received assistance.

The report stated that fighting between Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and insurgents continued in Helmand, Kandahar and Uruzgan provinces in the south; in Takhar and Baghlan in the north-east; and in Balkh, Faryab, Sar-e-Pul, Jawzjan and Samangan provinces in the north.

The security situation meanwhile remained unstable in Badghis, Ghor and Herat provinces in the west; and in Hesarak, Sherzad and Khogyani districts in Nangarhar province.

Following a needs assessment, humanitarian partners assisted 1,331 IDPs with cash, food, relief items, and hygiene supplies in Badghis, Ghor and Hirat provinces.

The security situation meanwhile also remained unstable in the central part of the country with incidents reported in Bamyan, Kabul, Logar, Maidan Wardak, Paktya, Khost, Paktika and Ghazni provinces.

According to humanitarian agencies, at least 45,000 families (approximately 315,000 people) are in need of assistance to get through the winter in the west of the country. “However, current funding will cover less than a third of people in need,” the report stated.

Thousands more are expected to be in need of assistance through winters this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the livelihoods of many people across the country, read the report.