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UN food agency alarmed by Afghan food, fuel prices

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(Last Updated On: March 19, 2022)

An official with the U.N. food agency warned Friday that with Russia’s war in Ukraine taking an increasing toll on the global economy, the ripples of that conflict will further increase food and fuel prices in Afghanistan.

Currently, as many as 95% of the country’s 38 million people don’t have enough to eat or money to buy food, The Associated Press reported.

Shelley Thakral, a spokeswoman for the World Food Program, said that food prices in Afghanistan rose nearly 40% over the last eight months.

The WFP has spent $1 billion feeding millions of Afghans this year but needs another $1.6 billion, Thakral added.

“The worrying thing, I think and this includes Afghanistan as well as all the other hunger spots across the world, is the rise in food and fuel prices,” said Thakral.

So far, donor countries have not sidelined Afghanistan but she said they “have to dig deeper” as Europe deals with the shockwaves of the war and the 3.2 million refugees who have fled Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion on February 24.

Thakral’s remarks echoed those of U.N. refugee chief Filippo Grandi, who warned during a visit to Kabul on Tuesday that the war in Ukraine could siphon off money from humanitarian crisis elsewhere, including in Afghanistan, and that soaring food prices could cripple humanitarian efforts.

While most of Afghanistan’s wheat supplies come from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Thakral said the increasing food and fuel cost as a result of the war could add up to 20% to the costs of providing humanitarian assistance, AP reported.

When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) swept to power in August, international donor money, which paid more than 80% percent of Afghanistan’s bills, dried up and the country’s economy went into free fall.

There was food on Kabul markets on Friday but Masihullah, standing by his small grocery stall, said no one has money. Most people don’t have jobs, Masihullah said.

A sack of flour costs nearly $28 and most Afghans are now below the poverty line, which means they earn $1.90 a day or less, AP reported.

Thakral said 80% of Afghans are in debt because they have had to borrow to pay for food or medicines and even working Afghans look to the WFP for food aid because they don’t make enough to be able to afford the food on the market.

A Human Rights Watch report released Thursday said that since January, about 13,000 newborns have died from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases in Afghanistan and 3.5 million children need nutritional support.

“If the countries we import food from face a challenge, we face a challenge,” said Masihullah.

“There is war between Russia and Ukraine, so we are affected … there is a high increase in prices of oil and wheat.”

A U.K. pledging summit to be held later this month expects to raise $4.4 billion to stave off a worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, said Thakral.

“Right now in Afghanistan, what we need to sustain is the attention on the people here,” she said.

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More than 800 Afghan refugees deported from Pakistan in two days

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(Last Updated On: April 20, 2024)

As many as 837 Afghan refugees have been forced to return to their country through Torkham and Spin Boldak crossings in the last two days, officials announced on Saturday.

The Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation said in a statement that 90 families comprising 468 people returned through Torkham crossing.

Another 67 families comprising 369 people returned through Spin Boldak crossing, it said.

The returnees have been introduced to international organizations to receive aid, and the Islamic Emirate has also paid 10,000 Afghanis to each family.

Pakistani government launched the second phase of deporting illegal refugees five days ago.

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Iran executes four Afghan prisoners

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(Last Updated On: April 20, 2024)

Iran executed four Afghan prisoners in Vakliabad Prison in Mashhad on Thursday morning, a human rights group reported.

Haalvsh said that the individuals had been arrested in 1398 over drug-related charges and then sentenced to death by the court.

This organization announced the names of the executed prisoners as Zaman Taheri, Salam Taheri, Gholam Qadir Samani and Ebrahim Noorzahi.

Zaman Taheri and Salam Taheri were brothers.

Iranian officials have not commented about the matter so far.

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Roof collapse kills two in Helmand

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(Last Updated On: April 20, 2024)

Two people were killed after roof of their house collapsed in southern Helmand province on Friday night, officials said.

Abdul Bari Rashid, head of information and culture in Helmand, told Ariana News that the incident occurred in Tajkan village of Gershak district due to heavy rain.

According to him, the dead include a woman and a child. A man was injured in the incident.

This comes as 10 people have died and six others have been injured as a result of the floods in Helmand province in the last one week.

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