Kabul: Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar appealed on Friday for emergency humanitarian aid without “political bias”, saying recent snow and flooding had worsened the plight of the Afghan people.
Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in mid-August, the country has plunged into financial chaos, with inflation and unemployment surging.
Billions of dollars of the country’s assets have been frozen by the United States, while aid supplies have been heavily disrupted.
Global aid agencies have warned that more than half of Afghanistan’s 38 million people are expected to face hunger this winter.
In a video appeal, deputy prime minister Abdul Ghani Baradar said the world had an obligation to help.
“In various places right now, people do not have food, accommodation, warm clothes or money,” Baradar said.
“The world has to support Afghan people without any political bias and carry out their humanitarian obligations.”
Snow has blanketed most of central and northern Afghanistan in recent days while flooding has affected parts of the south.
Many Afghans are struggling to afford heating, with the country facing regular electricity blackouts.
Baradar said the weather had worsened the already “sensitive situation” of the Afghan people, adding that the Taliban were prepared to help with the distribution of international aid across the country. (With input from INP)
