GENEVA (RIA Novosti): The situation in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly unpredictable and has all the signs of a humanitarian disaster, but the worst is yet to come, World Food Program spokesman Thomson Peary said at a briefing on Friday.
“We fear that the worst is yet to come and the biggest wave of hunger is fast approaching. It is no secret that the situation has deteriorated and is becoming more unpredictable. The conflict has begun to unfold faster than we expected. The situation has all the signs of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.
According to him, currently every third resident of Afghanistan does not know what he will eat tomorrow, and 2 million children need additional food. At the same time, after the second wave of drought for the year, the harvest is predicted to be less than usual.
In this regard, WFP doubled its plan for Afghanistan and expects to provide food aid to 9 million people by December. To this end, the program calls on donors to provide an additional $ 200 million.
In Afghanistan, the confrontation between government forces and the Taliban has continued for several years, which in recent months have seized significant territories in rural and border areas and launched an offensive against large cities. The escalation is taking place against the backdrop of the withdrawal of American troops, which the Russian Foreign Ministry called recognition of the failure of Washington’s mission in Afghanistan.
In early August, the Taliban occupied the administrative center of one of the 34 Afghan provinces for the first time since 2016. After that, they announced the capture of more than ten more, clashes continue. Against this background, information appeared in the Western media with reference to sources in the US intelligence that the Taliban could block and even take control of Kabul for months. The Russian Embassy in the Afghan capital, commenting on this data, told RIA Novosti that the evacuation is not yet planned, the security of the diplomatic mission has been properly strengthened.
