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U.N. chief tells Security Council: Afghanistan ‘hanging by thread’
Afghanistan is “hanging by a thread,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council on Wednesday, calling for countries to authorize all transactions needed to carry out humanitarian activities in the Islamic Emirate-ruled state, Reuters reported.
He also pushed for a suspension of any rules or conditions constricting “lifesaving” aid operations as millions in the country suffer extreme hunger, education and social services are on the brink of collapse, and a lack of liquidity limits the capacity of the United Nations and aid groups to reach people in need.
“We need to give financial institutions and commercial partners legal assurance that they can work with humanitarian operators without fear of breaching sanctions,” said Guterres, noting that the 15-member council last month adopted a humanitarian exemption to U.N. sanctions tied to Afghanistan.
Some $9.5 billion in Afghan central bank reserves remain blocked abroad and international development support has dried up since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) seized power in August. Donors seek to use the money as leverage over the IEA on issues including human rights, Reuters reported.
“There is compelling evidence of an emerging environment of intimidation and a deterioration in respect for human rights. This suggests that the consolidation of government authority may be leading toward control of the population by fear,” the U.N. special envoy on Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, told the council.
In December, donors to a frozen World Bank-administered Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund agreed to transfer $280 million to the World Food Program and U.N. children’s agency UNICEF to support nutrition and health in Afghanistan. Guterres said the remaining $1.2 billion in the fund needed “to be freed up urgently to help Afghanistan’s people survive the winter.”
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, told the council that Washington had moved to ensure that U.S. sanctions do not impede humanitarian activity and it is examining various options to ease the liquidity crunch.”
U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths and International Committee of the Red Cross President Peter Maurer met virtually with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month on Afghanistan, read the report.
Dominik Stillhart, ICRC director of operations, said “intense” discussions between the United Nations, the ICRC, the World Bank and key donor countries were centered on a “humanitarian exchange facility” that would be supported or managed by the World Bank and allow for cash to be injected into the Afghan economy, Reuters reported.
He told reporters that money could be deposited in the facility and “under certain conditions that cash could be made available to traders in Afghanistan,” though he said it was a stopgap measure because “it needs to be the central bank that has to be capacitated to discharge these functions.”
Thomas-Greenfield said that “ultimately, a functioning Afghan economy will require an independent and technically competent central bank that meets international banking standards.”
Stillhart said agreement was needed between the U.N., World Bank and key donors to “kick-start this facility,” noting that the discussion was not related to the unfreezing of Afghan assets or changes to sanctions on the IEA.
He said a separate idea was also being discussed that would involve using money from the World Bank-administered Afghan Reconstruction Trust Fund to pay non-security public sector employees.
According to Reuters the United Nations earlier this month appealed for $4.4 billion in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan in 2022. On Wednesday, it said it needed a further $3.6 billion for health and education, basic infrastructure, promotion of livelihoods and social cohesion, specifically the needs of women and girls.
An earthquake of magnitude 5.3 struck Afghanistan on Friday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
The quake occurred at 10:09 local time at a depth of 35 km, USGS said.
Its epicentre was 25 kilometres from Nahrin district of Baghlan province in north Afghanistan.
Chairman of U.S. House intelligence committee, Rick Crawford, has criticized the Biden administration’s handling of Afghan admissions to the United States following the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
In a statement, Crawford said that alongside large numbers of migrants entering through the U.S. southern border, approximately 190,000 Afghan nationals were granted entry under Operation Allies Welcome after the U.S. military withdrawal. He claimed that many of those admitted lacked proper documentation and, in some cases, were allowed into the country without comprehensive biometric data being collected.
Crawford said that the United States had a duty to protect Afghans who worked alongside U.S. forces and institutions during the two-decade conflict. However, he argued that the rapid and poorly coordinated nature of the withdrawal created conditions that overwhelmed existing screening and vetting systems.
“The rushed and poorly planned withdrawal created a perfect storm,” Crawford said, asserting that it compromised the government’s ability to fully assess who was being admitted into the country.
He said that there 18,000 known or suspected terrorists in the U.S.
“Today, I look forward to getting a better understanding of the domestic counterterrorism picture, and hearing how the interagency is working to find, monitor, prosecute, and deport known or suspected terrorists that never should have entered our country to begin with,” he said.
The Biden administration has previously defended Operation Allies Welcome, stating that multiple layers of security screening were conducted in coordination with U.S. intelligence, defense, and homeland security agencies. Nonetheless, the evacuation and resettlement of Afghan nationals remains a contentious political issue, particularly amid broader debates over immigration and border security.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration recently ordered its diplomats worldwide to stop processing visas for Afghan nationals, effectively suspending the special immigration program for Afghans who helped the United States during its 20-year-long occupation of their home country.
The decision came after a former member of one of Afghanistan’s CIA-backed units was accused of shooting two U.S. National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C.
Mohammad Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, says that over the past four years, the army forces of the Islamic Emirate have shown no hesitation in defending and protecting Afghanistan, and that today the country’s army is standing on its own feet.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, Fitrat made these remarks at a meeting with media representatives, political analysts, and a number of government officials aimed at coordination and strengthening cooperation. He added: “Nations that cannot stand on their own feet and rely on others, even if they grow, will not be capable of achieving real progress.”
Fitrat also expressed appreciation for the role of the media in ensuring security and in supporting the country’s defense forces, stating: “We and you, as citizens of this land, must put our hands together and build the country together, take pride in our forces, and strive with all our strength for the country’s development. We have created an army that defends honor, territorial integrity, and the borders of the country, and serves as the guardian of our freedom.”
He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is working to establish an army equipped with modern weapons so that it can defend the country’s territory under all circumstances.
He stated that the country’s army has proven to the people that anyone who looks at this land with ill intent will face a firm and courageous response, and that it has also been made clear to neighboring countries that any aggression against Afghanistan will be met with a response several times stronger.
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