Hundreds of Afghan families who have been camping in searing heat at a Kabul park after the Taliban overran their provinces begged for food and shelter on Thursday, the most visible face of a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the war-torn country.
The Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan this month, culminating in the capture of Kabul on Aug. 15, has thrown the country into turmoil.
While thousands of people have crowded the airport to try to flee, many others, like the families in the park, are stuck in limbo, unsure whether it is safer to try to go home or stay where they are.
“I’m in a bad situation,” said Zahida Bibi, a housewife, sitting under the blazing sun with her large family. “My head hurts. I feel very bad, there is nothing in my stomach.”
Ahmed Waseem, displaced from northern Afghanistan said those in the park were hoping the central government would pay attention. “We are in an open field and in the heat,” he said.
![For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/themes/shaw-globalnews/images/skyline/national.jpg)
Get breaking National news
A Taliban spokesman told Reuters the group was not providing food to the people at the park and others at the airport because it would lead to further overcrowding. They should return to their homes, he said.
Afghanistan’s western-backed president and many other officials fled after government forces melted away in the face of the Taliban advance. The group has placed its members in ministries and ordered some officials back to work, but services are yet to resume, with banks still closed.
Phalwan Sameer, also from northern Afghanistan, said his family came to Kabul after the situation rapidly deteriorated in his home town.
“There (was) a lot of fighting and bombing as well. That’s why we came here. The houses were burned and we became homeless,” he said.
![Click to play video: 'Afghanistan crisis: Clock ticking for Afghans to evacuate country'](https://i1.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/news/rvtmo81n33-jg96mblq70/WED_SHANNON_SITE_THUMB_250821.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday it has only enough medical supplies in Afghanistan to last a week after deliveries were blocked by restrictions at Kabul airport and the U.N. World Food Programme said the country urgently needed $200 million in food aid.
The United Nations says more than 18 million people – over half of Afghanistan’s population – require aid and half of all Afghan children under the age of five already suffer from acute malnutrition amid the second drought in four years.
The Taliban have assured the U.N. that it can pursue humanitarian work as foreign governments weigh the issue of whether and how to support the population under hardline Islamist rule.
(Reporting by Reuters TV; additional reporting by Rupam Jain; writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
- Olympian Maggie Steffens’ sister-in-law, 26, dies after travelling to Paris for Games
- Tourist rescued from Death Valley after skin ‘melted off’ foot in extreme heat
- Simone Biles injury: Star gymnast to continue competing despite leg issues
- Obama 2.0? How Kamala Harris’s social media strategy is shaping her campaign
Comments