Over 3.8mn Afghans receive assistance

Kabul, Oct 7 (IANS) More than 3.8 million Afghans have received food assistance in September after aid agencies scaled up response to the rising food insecurity in the country which has escalated after the Taliban takeover, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

"In September, more than 3.8 million people received food assistance, 21,000 children aged six-59 months and 10,000 women received treatment for acute malnutrition, 32,000 people received non-food items including blankets and warm clothes for winter," the agency said in a statement.

More than 10,000 children were reached with community-based education activities, 450,000 people were reached with primary and secondary healthcare, 160,000 farmers and herders were provided with livelihoods support, the statement added.

During the period, "12,000 people received emergency psycho-social and mental health support, 186,000 drought-affected people received water, and 150,000 people received hygiene promotion and hygiene kits".

Millions of people in Afghanistan have been deeply affected by decades of conflict and displacement, chronic poverty, the Covid-19 pandemic, a severe drought, a failing health system, and an economy on the brink of collapse, the statement said.

The security situation remained generally calm but uncertain across Afghanistan since Taliban's takeover in mid-August.