Latest News
UN agencies sound alarm over worsening malnutrition crisis in Afghanistan
A coalition of United Nations agencies has issued an urgent appeal for international action to address a deepening malnutrition emergency in Afghanistan, where millions of children and women face life-threatening health conditions amid severe food insecurity and collapsing healthcare services.
In a joint statement released Sunday, UNICEF, WHO, WFP, FAO, and UNFPA warned that over 3.5 million Afghan children under the age of five are currently suffering from acute malnutrition, with 1.4 million at immediate risk of death without medical intervention.
Afghanistan is now among the top 15 countries most severely affected by malnutrition, the agencies said.
The crisis is not limited to children. The UN reports that four in every ten Afghan women are malnourished, a crisis that is often underreported. Malnutrition in women, especially during pregnancy and breastfeeding, contributes to complicated childbirth, elevated infant mortality rates, and long-term developmental issues for children.
The alarming statistics come as Afghanistan faces one of its worst humanitarian outlooks in decades, with over 9.8 million people experiencing acute food insecurity. Prolonged drought, economic collapse, and environmental disasters have left communities struggling to access sufficient food and basic healthcare.
“The health and futures of millions of Afghan children and women are on the line,” the agencies warned. “Without urgent and sustained funding, the consequences will be catastrophic and irreversible.”
Despite the growing severity of the crisis, humanitarian funding for Afghanistan has plummeted, with current support levels down by 40% compared to previous years. Aid agencies say this funding gap is drastically limiting their ability to respond.
The UN’s joint strategy calls for integrated interventions, including food assistance, expanded maternal and child healthcare, and nutritional education. Officials stress that these measures are critical to preventing a full-scale humanitarian collapse.
“This is not just a health emergency—it is a generational emergency,” said a senior UN official.
“Millions of Afghan children risk being permanently affected by hunger and deprivation unless the global community acts decisively.”
The agencies are now urging international donors and stakeholders to urgently scale up support for Afghanistan’s humanitarian response. They emphasize that global solidarity is essential to preventing further suffering and stabilizing a population devastated by decades of conflict, climate shocks, and economic hardship.
Without immediate intervention, the UN warns, Afghanistan could face a nutrition catastrophe with long-term consequences for its people and its future.
The Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan announced on Friday that the country has allocated $19.5 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan.
In a statement, the Japanese Embassy said it hopes the aid will help bring positive change to the lives of vulnerable Afghans.
According to the statement, the assistance will cover the basic humanitarian needs of vulnerable communities in Afghanistan.
The embassy added that the aid will be delivered through United Nations agencies, international organizations, and Japanese non-governmental organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Japan’s total assistance to Afghanistan since August 2021 has reached more than $549 million.
Security forces at the Islam Qala border in Herat province prevented hundreds of young Afghans from illegally entering Iran.
Officials from the 207 Al-Farooq Army Corps said that around 530 people attempted over the past two days to illegally enter Iranian territory through areas of Kohsan district in Herat, but border forces detained them and transferred them back to their original areas.
Meanwhile, officials in the local administration of Herat said that due to severe cold along the illegal migration route to Iran, three Afghan migrants have lost their lives in the Kohsan district of the province, and a shepherd has also died there for the same reason.
Mohammad Yousuf Saeedi, spokesperson for the Herat governor’s office, said that some statistics and images shared on social media regarding the incident are not reliable.
According to him, further investigations are underway to determine whether any individuals have died on the other side of the border.
President Donald Trump suspended the green card lottery program on Thursday that allowed the suspect in the Brown University and MIT shootings to come to the United States.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a post on the social platform X that, at Trump’s direction, she is ordering the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to pause the program, the Associated Press reported.
“This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country,” she said of the suspect, Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente.
Neves Valente, 48, is suspected in the shootings at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, and the killing of an MIT professor. He was found dead Thursday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, officials said.
Neves Valente had studied at Brown on a student visa beginning in 2000, according to an affidavit from a Providence police detective. In 2017, he was issued a diversity immigrant visa and months later obtained legal permanent residence status, according to the affidavit. It was not immediately clear where he was between taking a leave of absence from the school in 2001 and getting the visa in 2017.
The diversity visa program makes up to 50,000 green cards available each year by lottery to people from countries that are little represented in the U.S., many of them in Africa. The lottery was created by Congress, and the move is almost certain to invite legal challenges.
Nearly 20 million people applied for the 2025 visa lottery, with more than 131,000 selected when including spouses with the winners. After winning, they must undergo vetting to win admission to the United States. Portuguese citizens won only 38 slots.
Lottery winners are invited to apply for a green card. They are interviewed at consulates and subject to the same requirements and vetting as other green-card applicants.
Trump has long opposed the diversity visa lottery. Noem’s announcement is the latest example of using tragedy to advance immigration policy goals. After an Afghan man was identified as the gunman in a fatal attack on National Guard members in November, Trump’s administration imposed sweeping rules against immigration from Afghanistan and other counties.
While pursuing mass deportation, Trump has sought to limit or eliminate avenues to legal immigration. He has not been deterred if they are enshrined in law, like the diversity visa lottery, or the Constitution, as with a right to citizenship for anyone born on U.S. soil. The Supreme Court recently agreed to hear his challenge to birthright citizenship.
US hits Daesh in Syria with large retaliatory strikes, officials say
Tawsia: India’s enthusiasm for investing in Afghanistan discussed
Japan allocates nearly $20 million in humanitarian aid for Afghanistan
Afghan border forces prevent illegal entry of hundreds into Iran
US pauses green card lottery program after Brown University shooting
Afghanistan U19 cricket team defeats India A U19
Afghanistan economy under pressure as Pakistan shocks reshape trade flows
Gaza death toll tops 70,000, health ministry says
India set to establish pharmaceutical factories in Afghanistan: MoIC
Afghanistan offers tax breaks, free land to attract Indian investors
Tawsia: India’s enthusiasm for investing in Afghanistan discussed
Tahawol: Global concerns over migration escalation discussed
Saar: Calls for Afghanistan’s balanced, economy-oriented foreign policy discussed
Tahawol: Discussion on regional countries’ meetings on Afghanistan
Saar: Regional efforts to address Afghanistan-Pakistan issues discussed
-
Latest News5 days agoGermany speeds up admission of Afghans from Pakistan
-
Sport5 days agoIPL 2026 Auction set for Abu Dhabi with $28.6 million purse at stake
-
Latest News5 days agoAfghanistan to establish independent oil and gas authority
-
Latest News5 days agoUS intelligence chief warns of ‘direct threat’ from suspected terrorists inside the country
-
Latest News4 days agoIEA supreme leader stresses enforcement of Sharia law and sincere public service
-
International Sports5 days agoILT20: Desert Vipers qualify for playoffs with five-wicket win over Dubai Capitals
-
World5 days agoFather and son behind Bondi Jewish festival shooting that killed 15, Australian police say
-
International Sports5 days agoATN secures broadcast rights for four major AFC sporting events