Ex-Canada minister demands sanctions against Pakistan, blames Islamabad for Afghan crisis

As Afghanistan continuous to face a serious food crisis, former Canadian minister and diplomat Chris Alexander raised serious concerns regarding the future of the country's citizens, further continuing his demand for sanctions against Pakistan. Accusing Islamabad of playing a part in the ongoing food crisis in Afghanistan, the former Canadian minister took to Twitter and wrote, " Afghan lives matter. Human dignity, basic freedoms, the rule of law, human rights, international law and the UN Charter matter",  ending the post with the hashtag: "sanction Pakistan."

Earlier on Friday, Alexander called out Pakistan for invading Afghanistan and causing a serious food emergency in the country. He wrote, "Pakistan’s invasion has left nearly 40 million Afghans facing hunger."

This is not the first time, Alexander demanded sanctions against Pakistan. Earlier, in the month of August, Alexander who was the first resident Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan and served from 2003-2009 called out Islamabad for invading Afghanistan and also played a key role behind the viral hashtag, '#SanctionPakistan' holding the country responsible for the Afghan crisis. 

Apart from that, Alexander also took to Twitter and wrote that the Taliban fighters are waiting at the Pakistan border to cross it. "Anyone still denying that Pakistan is engaged in an ‘act of aggression’ against Afghanistan is complicit in proxy war & war crimes", he tweeted. 

Food insecurity in Afghanistan at 'crisis level'

According to a recent situation report by the United Nations, concerns have been raised regarding the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan as people continue to face food insecurity at crisis or emergency levels. Notably, an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report was issued by the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster of Afghanistan claiming that more than half the population of Afghanistan – a record 22.8 million people - will face acute food insecurity from November.

Earlier in October, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) informed that more than half of the population in Afghanistan were facing acute food insecurity, followed by millions of children suffering from acute malnutrition. Speaking on the same, executive director of the WFP, David Beasley said that Afghanistan is currently among the world's worst humanitarian crises and is on a countdown to catastrophe.

Apart from that, the WFP also warned about future threats in the winter season which could result in the isolation of Afghan civilians dependent on humanitarian assistance. 

Notably, Afghanistan is heavily dependent on foreign aid from other countries and about 40% of the country's gross domestic product comes from foreign aid, according to the World Bank. 

(Image: AP)