UN resumes humanitarian flights to Taliban-captured Afghanistan, delivers relief supplies

On Friday, the United Nations resumed humanitarian flights amid ongoing turmoil in Afghanistan since the Taliban's takeover last month. In a media briefing, UN spokesperson Stefan Dujarrik said that the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service (UNHAS) is resuming flights to Afghanistan to deliver relief supplies, reported World Today News quoting Interfax-Ukraine. The UNHAS is operated by the World Food Program (WFP). Speaking further, Dujarrik stated that the UNHAS is resuming flights to enable 160 humanitarian organizations to carry out their activities in the provinces of Afghanistan. He said that efforts are on to strengthen the humanitarian operations by increasing the number of flights as soon as possible. Stating that Afghan capital Kabul is still inaccessible by air, he said the passenger air transportation presently connects Pakistan's capital Islamabad with Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandhar, reported the news website. 

Efforts are on to arrange flights to supply non-food items

Dujarrik further said that efforts are also being made to arrange flights so that non-food items, like medicines, can be sent to provinces where they are urgently required. He also hoped that Kabul airport would also be operational sooner than later which would help in intensifying the humanitarian operations further. Earlier, speaking of the grim situation in the country, Herve Ludovic De Lys, the UNICEF Afghanistan Representative, stated that nearly 10 million children in the country are deprived of their rights and are in urgent need of humanitarian aid, reported ANI. Apart from this, tens of thousands of Afghans have been displaced due to the recent violence and many have become refugees in countries like Pakistan, Iran and Germany. 

UN Secretary-General urge nations to help people in Afghanistan

According to The Associated Press (AP), the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed grave concerns at the growing crisis in Afghanistan and also urged nations to come forward and help the people in the war-ravaged country as they are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance to survive. He said that the country is in urgent need of food and health supplies as at least 18 million Afghans need aid to survive. According to Al Jazeera, Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the country has taken up the matter of reopening the Hamid Karzai International Airport with the Taliban. He also claimed that Turkey would be providing the necessary technical support to restart operations at the Airport.

(Image Credits: ANI/AP/Representative)