It has been more than a year since Afghanistan was under the control of the Taliban. The UN aid chief on Monday (August 30) said that countries should now resume sending development assistance aid to the people who are starving.

The economic and political situation in the South Asian country is deteriorating every day. The population is increasing, poverty is getting worse, and the authorities don’t have the funds to cope with it. Afghanistan's development has slowed, particularly since the Taliban took control.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/afghanistan-is-crumbling-under-the-taliban-511132">Also read |&nbsp;Afghanistan is crumbling under the rule of Taliban, US promises to send aid</a>

According to the UN aid chief, six million people in the country are at risk of starvation, and half of them require humanitarian assistance. He further stated that without proper care, more than a million children are predicted to be suffering from malnutrition.

The UN and other charity organisations have struggled to get enough money into the country over the past year as international banks are wary of breaking sanctions.

Martin Griffiths, UN chief aid said, "Humanitarians have brought in over $1 billion in cash to sustain programme delivery, but the liquidity and banking crisis continues to impact delivery of assistance and on the daily lives of Afghans," Reuters reported.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/reports-of-heavy-drone-activity-in-parts-of-afghanistan-510430">Also read |&nbsp;Reports of heavy drone activity in parts of Afghanistan. What does it signify?</a>

Foreign nations have also frozen billions of dollars, mostly by the US, to stop the Taliban from accessing them.

However, Russia and China, opposing other nations, called for the release of the money. However, as per UN officials, Russia and China were the two countries that gave the most aid to Afghanistan.

(With inputs from agencies)

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It has been more than a year since Afghanistan was under the control of the Taliban. The UN aid chief on Monday (August 30) said that countries should now resume sending development assistance aid to the people who are starving.

It has been more than a year since Afghanistan was under the control of the Taliban. The UN aid chief on Monday (August 30) said that countries should now resume sending development assistance aid to the people who are starving. The economic and political situation in the South Asian country is deteriorating every day. The population is increasing, poverty is getting worse, and the authorities don’t have the funds to cope with it. Afghanistan's development has slowed, particularly since the Taliban took control. Also read | Afghanistan is crumbling under the rule of Taliban, US promises to send aid According to the UN aid chief, six million people in the country are at risk of starvation, and half of them require humanitarian assistance. He further stated that without proper care, more than a million children are predicted to be suffering from malnutrition. The UN and other charity organisations have struggled to get enough money into the country over the past year as international banks are wary of breaking sanctions. Martin Griffiths, UN chief aid said, "Humanitarians have brought in over $1 billion in cash to sustain programme delivery, but the liquidity and banking crisis continues to impact delivery of assistance and on the daily lives of Afghans," Reuters reported. Also read | Reports of heavy drone activity in parts of Afghanistan. What does it signify? Foreign nations have also frozen billions of dollars, mostly by the US, to stop the Taliban from accessing them. However, Russia and China, opposing other nations, called for the release of the money. However, as per UN officials, Russia and China were the two countries that gave the most aid to Afghanistan. (With inputs from agencies)

UN chief requests countries to resume sending development aid to Afghanistan

The United Nations&#39; top aid official voiced anger today at world powers&#39; inability to agree on a truce to allow aid into Aleppo, warning of an &quot;unparalleled&quot; humanitarian catastrophe in the battleground Syrian city. 
 
Stephen O&#39;Brien told the Security Council that plans were in place to quickly send 70 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to eastern Aleppo if all sides agreed on a truce. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m not going to pretend. I&#39;m angry, very angry,&quot; O&#39;Brien told council members holding their third meeting on the crisis in Aleppo this month. 
 
&quot;As the UN&#39;s humanitarian chief, this callous carnage that is Syria has long since moved from the cynical to the sinful.&quot; 
 
O&#39;Brien renewed his call for a 48-hour pause in fighting in Aleppo, where the violence escalated sharply in July when regime forces surrounded the rebel-held east. 
 
Up to 275,000 people in eastern Aleppo have been almost entirely cut off from food, water, medicine and electricity for over a month, while 1.5 million people living in the west of the city also face severe shortages. 
 
&quot;In Aleppo, we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed and carnage in the Syrian conflict,&quot; said O&#39;Brien. 
 
The war-torn nation&#39;s second city &quot;has become the apex of horror&quot; for suffering Syrians, he said. 
 
O&#39;Brien welcomed the announcement from Russia, Syria&#39;s key ally, that it supports the call for the 48-hour ceasefire, but said all sides must sign on. 
 
Once the needed security assurances are received, UN aid workers are ready to move 50 trucks of aid from western Aleppo to the east, and an additional 20 trucks from Turkey into eastern Aleppo, he said. 
 
O&#39;Brien urged all countries with influence, in particular the United States and Russia, which co-chair the international group backing the peace process in Syria, to rapidly reach agreement on a ceasefire deal. 
 
Not a single aid convoy has reached Syria&#39;s besieged areas in August while air strikes have hit hospitals and schools. 
 
In July alone, there were 44 attacks on medical and health facilities throughout Syria, including attacks against five out of the nine hospitals in eastern Aleppo, according to the UN. 
 
More than 290,000 people have been killed in the Syrian war that erupted in March 2011 and international efforts to end the conflict have faltered. 
 
(AFP)

The war-torn nation's second city 'has become the apex of horror', O'Brien said, adding that all sides must sign on the call for ceasefire

The United Nations' top aid official voiced anger today at world powers' inability to agree on a truce to allow aid into Aleppo, warning of an "unparalleled" humanitarian catastrophe in the battleground Syrian city. Stephen O'Brien told the Security Council that plans were in place to quickly send 70 trucks loaded with humanitarian aid to eastern Aleppo if all sides agreed on a truce. "I'm not going to pretend. I'm angry, very angry," O'Brien told council members holding their third meeting on the crisis in Aleppo this month. "As the UN's humanitarian chief, this callous carnage that is Syria has long since moved from the cynical to the sinful." O'Brien renewed his call for a 48-hour pause in fighting in Aleppo, where the violence escalated sharply in July when regime forces surrounded the rebel-held east. Up to 275,000 people in eastern Aleppo have been almost entirely cut off from food, water, medicine and electricity for over a month, while 1.5 million people living in the west of the city also face severe shortages. "In Aleppo, we risk seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed and carnage in the Syrian conflict," said O'Brien. The war-torn nation's second city "has become the apex of horror" for suffering Syrians, he said. O'Brien welcomed the announcement from Russia, Syria's key ally, that it supports the call for the 48-hour ceasefire, but said all sides must sign on. Once the needed security assurances are received, UN aid workers are ready to move 50 trucks of aid from western Aleppo to the east, and an additional 20 trucks from Turkey into eastern Aleppo, he said. O'Brien urged all countries with influence, in particular the United States and Russia, which co-chair the international group backing the peace process in Syria, to rapidly reach agreement on a ceasefire deal. Not a single aid convoy has reached Syria's besieged areas in August while air strikes have hit hospitals and schools. In July alone, there were 44 attacks on medical and health facilities throughout Syria, including attacks against five out of the nine hospitals in eastern Aleppo, according to the UN. More than 290,000 people have been killed in the Syrian war that erupted in March 2011 and international efforts to end the conflict have faltered. (AFP)

UN aid chief warns of 'unparalleled' catastrophe in Aleppo

The UN Security Council yesterday backed a call by the UN&#39;s top aid official for a humanitarian truce in Aleppo after four hospitals were bombed and civilians were killed by air strikes in the Syrian city. 
 
Warning that food will soon run out in Aleppo, UN aid chief Stephen O&#39;Brien called for 48-hour weekly humanitarian truces to prevent a &quot;medieval&quot; siege from taking hold. 
 
&quot;The international community simply cannot let eastern Aleppo city become yet another - and by far the largest - besieged area,&quot; O&#39;Brien told the council. 
 
&quot;This is medieval and shameful. We must not allow this to happen.&quot; 
 
O&#39;Brien, the UN&#39;s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said food supplies in rebel-held eastern Aleppo were expected to run out by the middle of August. 
 
Britain, France and the United States quickly endorsed the plan, and Japan&#39;s ambassador Koro Bessho, who holds the council presidency, said there was &quot;overwhelming support for the idea&quot; among the 15 council members. 
 
French ambassador Francois Delattre compared Aleppo&#39;s plight to that of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war and said &quot;the Security Council simply cannot accept such war crimes - yes, war crimes - to repeat again.&quot; 
 
Syrian regime forces seized the last remaining supply route to Aleppo this month and all humanitarian and commercial movements came to a halt on July 7. 
 
Syria and its allies are &quot;determined to besiege, starve and bomb Aleppo until they reach their military goal: eradicating the opposition. This is what the siege is all about,&quot; Delattre told reporters ahead of the meeting. 
 
Enough is enough 
 
Over the weekend, four hospitals were bombed in Aleppo, jeopardising medical care for more than 200,000 desperate civilians. 
 
On Monday, air strikes and barrel bombs killed 16 civilians in Aleppo, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 
 
&quot;Enough is enough now,&quot; British ambassador Matthew Rycroft said. 
 
Rycroft said the council was looking at possible action to address the crisis in Aleppo, but did not provide details. 
 
Council support for the proposed truces could lead to a draft resolution to enforce the UN plan, but it remained unlikely that Russia, Syria&#39;s ally, would back such a measure. 
 
Russia said the so-called Castello road that was seized by regime forces was a supply route for weapons to jihadists, including the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front. 
 
Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin nevertheless told the council that in Aleppo, &quot;there is a need there to prevent humanitarian disaster.&quot; 
 
The United States put the onus on Russia to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt attacks and re-open the Castello road. 
 
&quot;Russia, the Assad regime and other groups fighting around Aleppo should heed the UN call for a weekly 48-hour pause to allow for deliveries of essential supplies,&quot; said US ambassador Samantha Power. 
 
The council raised alarm over the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo on the eve of a meeting in Geneva between top US and Russian officials to try to lay the groundwork for a resumption of peace talks. 
 
More than 280,000 people have been killed in Syria in the war, which is now in its sixth year, and more than half the country has been displaced. 
 
(AFP)

Warning that food will soon run out, UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien called for 48-hour weekly pauses for deliveries of essential supplies

The UN Security Council yesterday backed a call by the UN's top aid official for a humanitarian truce in Aleppo after four hospitals were bombed and civilians were killed by air strikes in the Syrian city. Warning that food will soon run out in Aleppo, UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien called for 48-hour weekly humanitarian truces to prevent a "medieval" siege from taking hold. "The international community simply cannot let eastern Aleppo city become yet another - and by far the largest - besieged area," O'Brien told the council. "This is medieval and shameful. We must not allow this to happen." O'Brien, the UN's under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said food supplies in rebel-held eastern Aleppo were expected to run out by the middle of August. Britain, France and the United States quickly endorsed the plan, and Japan's ambassador Koro Bessho, who holds the council presidency, said there was "overwhelming support for the idea" among the 15 council members. French ambassador Francois Delattre compared Aleppo's plight to that of Sarajevo during the Bosnian war and said "the Security Council simply cannot accept such war crimes - yes, war crimes - to repeat again." Syrian regime forces seized the last remaining supply route to Aleppo this month and all humanitarian and commercial movements came to a halt on July 7. Syria and its allies are "determined to besiege, starve and bomb Aleppo until they reach their military goal: eradicating the opposition. This is what the siege is all about," Delattre told reporters ahead of the meeting. Enough is enough Over the weekend, four hospitals were bombed in Aleppo, jeopardising medical care for more than 200,000 desperate civilians. On Monday, air strikes and barrel bombs killed 16 civilians in Aleppo, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "Enough is enough now," British ambassador Matthew Rycroft said. Rycroft said the council was looking at possible action to address the crisis in Aleppo, but did not provide details. Council support for the proposed truces could lead to a draft resolution to enforce the UN plan, but it remained unlikely that Russia, Syria's ally, would back such a measure. Russia said the so-called Castello road that was seized by regime forces was a supply route for weapons to jihadists, including the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front. Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin nevertheless told the council that in Aleppo, "there is a need there to prevent humanitarian disaster." The United States put the onus on Russia to persuade Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt attacks and re-open the Castello road. "Russia, the Assad regime and other groups fighting around Aleppo should heed the UN call for a weekly 48-hour pause to allow for deliveries of essential supplies," said US ambassador Samantha Power. The council raised alarm over the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo on the eve of a meeting in Geneva between top US and Russian officials to try to lay the groundwork for a resumption of peace talks. More than 280,000 people have been killed in Syria in the war, which is now in its sixth year, and more than half the country has been displaced. (AFP)

UN Security Council backs call for Aleppo truce

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UN chief requests countries to resume sending development aid to Afghanistan

UN aid chief warns of 'unparalleled' catastrophe in Aleppo

UN Security Council backs call for Aleppo truce