UN seeks $606 million for Afghanistan after Taliban takeover

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GENEVA – The United Nations is hosting a high-level donors league connected Monday to drum up exigency funds for Afghanistan aft past month's Taliban takeover of the state that stunned the world.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was starring the satellite body's telephone for much than $600 cardinal for the remainder of this twelvemonth successful a “flash appeal” for Afghans aft their country's authorities was toppled by the Taliban and U.S. and NATO forces exited the 20-year warfare successful a chaotic departure.

There are concerns that instability and upended humanitarian efforts, compounded by an ongoing drought, could further endanger lives and plunge Afghanistan toward famine.

The league volition enactment to the trial immoderate Western governments and different large accepted U.N. donors who privation to assistance mundane Afghans without handing a nationalist relations triumph oregon currency to the Taliban, who ousted the internationally backed authorities successful a lightning sweep.

The U.N. says “recent developments” person accrued the vulnerability of Afghans who person already been facing decades of deprivation and violence. A terrible drought is jeopardizing the upcoming harvest, and hunger has been rising. The U.N.'s World Food Program is to beryllium a large beneficiary of immoderate funds collected during Monday's conference.

Along with its partners, the U.N. is seeking $606 cardinal for the remainder of the twelvemonth to assistance 11 cardinal people.

Coinciding with Monday's league successful Geneva, the caput of the U.N. exile agency, Filippo Grandi, made a antecedently unannounced sojourn to Kabul. He wrote connected Twitter that helium would measure humanitarian needs and the concern of 3.5 cardinal displaced Afghans — including implicit 500,000 who person been displaced this twelvemonth alone.

Officials astatine UNHCR person expressed concerns that immoderate radical could effort to question refuge successful what person been accepted havens for fleeing Afghans successful neighboring Pakistan and Iran, which some person ample populations of Afghans who had fled their state earlier to flight warfare and violence.

The Taliban seized powerfulness connected Aug. 15, the time they overran Kabul aft capturing outlying provinces successful the blitz campaign. They initially promised inclusiveness and a wide amnesty for erstwhile opponents, but galore Afghans stay profoundly fearful of the caller rulers. Taliban constabulary officials person beaten Afghan journalists, violently dispersed women’s protests and formed an all-male authorities contempt saying initially they would invitation broader representation.

The satellite has been watching intimately to spot however Afghanistan nether a Taliban authorities mightiness beryllium antithetic from the archetypal clip the Islamic militants were successful power, successful the precocious 1990s. During that era, the Taliban imposed a harsh regularisation of their mentation of Islamic law. Girls and women were denied an education, and were excluded from nationalist life.

Also connected Monday, a Pakistan International Airlines level charted by the World Bank landed astatine Kabul's airdrome to evacuate much people, according to Abullah Hafeez Khan, a spokesperson for the airline. Pakistan has halted commercialized flights to Kabul due to the fact that of information reasons, and the hose has nary plans truthful acold to resume commercialized flights.

Last Thursday, an estimated 200 foreigners, including Americans, near Afghanistan connected a Qatar Airways formation retired of Kabul with the practice of the Taliban — the archetypal specified large-scale departure since U.S. forces completed their frantic withdrawal connected Aug. 30.

Many thousands of Afghans stay hopeless to get out, too, acrophobic of what Taliban regularisation mightiness hold. The Taliban person repeatedly said foreigners and Afghans with due question documents could leave. But their assurances person been met with skepticism, and galore Afghans person been incapable to get definite paperwork.

Abdul Hadi Hamdani, caput of Kabul's airport, said Monday that each home flights were backmost to their regular docket but that “some method problems request to beryllium solved" earlier planetary flights tin resume. Members of the borderline constabulary who antecedently worked astatine the airdrome person been called backmost to resume their duties.

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Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed successful Islamabad and Rahim Faiez successful Istanbul contributed to this report.

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