Catastrophe looms large in Afghanistan as millions face starvation.
In the midst of a deteriorating security situation, the humanitarian crisis brought about the rapid withdrawal of US and allied troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent takeover by the Taliban, threatens to become a catastrophe for the people, and more especially the children, who are now facing an agonising, drawn out death from starvation and cold as Winter closes in.
ISIS-K continues its assault on Shia’s unabated, heedless of the suffering the food crisis is already placing on the beleaguered population, and all the while the West waits and does nothing except talk, playing politics as people starve to death.
With some 23 million people, more than half of the population, facing acute food insecurity, it led David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme, to say “Children are going to die. People are going to starve. Things are going to get a lot worse…//…I don’t know how you don’t have millions of people, and especially children, dying at the rate we are going with the lack of funding and the collapsing of the economy.”
Even though the leaders of the G20 nations agreed that aid should begin to flow conditionally the vast majority of Afghanistan’s assets remain frozen in US and UK banks. Today (27th October) the former US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, called on the US to be more pragmatic in their approach to dealing with the Taliban given the burgeoning humanitarian crisis. In a conversation with Aaron David Miller he said that the US was right to remain sceptical in its dealings with the Taliban but that the scepticism ‘shouldn’t lead to paralysis,’ which is precisely where are now.
This, coming the day after the Pentagon warned that terror groups in Afghanistan may be in a position to launch attacks at the West, including the US, within 6 months. Whilst this prospect might seem remote at the moment, should the Afghan state collapse and the Taliban with it, ISIS-K and Al Qaeda and possibly other groups, will move quickly to fill the void.
Jihadists worldwide have been celebrating the Taliban victory and should they begin to falter there is no doubt that groups everywhere would leap at the chance to fill their shoes. A renewed civil war or complete state collapse would likely see Afghanistan descend into anarchy, which would see yet another refugee crisis that would threaten not only the stability and security of its neighbours, and in particular Pakistan, but also that of the EU that would see another flood of sorry, sad and hungry migrants to its borders.
This, despite the EU pledging 1bn Euros and Biden signing two ‘humanitarian exceptions’ (on September 24th 2021) to existing US sanctions against the Afghan Taliban to allow aid to flow more freely, but that promised aid and economic comfort is just not materialising fast enough.
If you are reading this and have seen any of the tragic videos or images from Afghanistan and have not yet given your help I humbly request that you visit the UN Fund for Afghanistan and give what you can. The people of Afghanistan need our help now.
Thank you.
