The UN World Food Program(WFP), one of the first agencies to touch ground in global emergencies, has put figures at 1.4 crore for Afghans faced with acute starvation in the country with a total population of 3.8 crore .
The country faced two droughts in three years and has lost 40 percent of the crops to heat. With cattle having died en masse and economy battered from Covid conditions, life for majority had turned particularly stressed out. That's when Taliban swept in forcing lakhs to flee their homes and farm in fear of the aftermath they dread. Winter is drawing near, meaning the malnutrition levels and and woes are set to escalate drastically. The WFP has delivered food aid to over 40 lakh people so far and aims to raise that number to 90 lakh in coming months, at a cost of $20 crores to its coffers.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund(IMD) has announced there will be loans advanced to Afghanistan until a point when the international community clarifies its recognition or otherwise of the current Taliban governance. Also, a $900 billion of the country’s foreign reserves are in limbo - much of which is stashed in U.S. and IMF. Permission to withdraw the funds will not be granted, at least not now, clarified IMF.
The chief of Afghanistan's Central Bank has warned of impending currency crisis after massive withdrawals by people who are fleeing the country. Inflation, including that of food, is skyrocketing.
In another development, U. S. has halted its weapon sales to Afghanistan. The foreign ministry in U.S. has ordered weapon manufacturers to scrap supply contracts with Afghanistan. Taliban had snatched U.S.-supplied weapons from Afghan security forces to bring greater territory under their control in buildup to their complete takeover.
