MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd September, 2021) About 18 million people in Afghanistan are in need of humanitarian assistance, deputy director of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations' Directorate for Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific said on Wednesday.
"We have 18 million people, meaning half of the country in need of humanitarian need," Raffaella Iodice told a joint session of the European Parliament's committees with the delegation for relations with Afghanistan.
Afghanistan fell to the Taliban (a terrorist group, banned in Russia) on August 15, prompting foreign countries to evacuate their citizens and diplomats, and thousands of vulnerable Afghans to rush to the Kabul airport in the hope of getting out. The crowded airport was attacked by Islamic State terrorists (banned in Russia) last week, moving the United States to retaliate. The bombings and stampede killed dozens.
Conflict coupled with drought and COVID-19 have caused immense displacement, poverty, and food insecurity in Afghanistan. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization fears that the upcoming winter season will threaten hundreds of thousands of Afghans whose livelihoods depend on agriculture if urgent humanitarian assistance fails to come on time.
