9 million people are at risk of famine in Afghanistan: UN Chief

New York [US], April 1 (ANI): Highlighting the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday (local time) said that nine million people are at risk of famine in the troubled country. Taking to Twitter, Guterres said that the economy of Afghanistan has effectively collapsed and called on donors to fund the country so that the UN and its partners can continue to deliver lifesaving aid.

“The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated alarmingly in past months. 9 million people are at risk of famine. The economy has effectively collapsed. I call on donors to fund our appeal urgently so that the UN & partners can continue to deliver lifesaving aid,” Guterres tweeted.

The situation of human rights in Afghanistan has worsened since the collapse of the Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power in August last year. Although the fighting in the country has ended, serious human rights violations continue unabated.

The Taliban have committed and continue to commit human rights violations including extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, a massive rollback of the rights of women and girls, censorship of and attacks against the media. Moreover, people in Afghanistan are also facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis which is being driven by decisions and positions taken by the international community, especially the US, that have blocked Afghanistan from aid funding and access to the global financial system. (ANI