Afghanistan’s displaced people head to large cities for safety

Afghans displaced by fighting stream into Kabul and other large cities, some renting, many staying with family and friends, others camping in the open, a UN spokesman said on Friday.

“Due to the conflict that we’re seeing across the country, many people are arriving in Kabul and other large cities, trying to seek safety for themselves and for their families,” said Stephane Dujarric, the chief spokesman for UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres. The United Nations and its humanitarian partners verified 10,350 internally displaced people arriving in Kabul between July 1 and Thursday, Dujarric said.

As of Thursday, humanitarians provided food, health, household items, and water and sanitation assistance to some 6,900 displaced men, women and children in Kabul.

Amid reports of the Taliban taking several provincial capitals, the spokesman said he could only speak on humanitarian operations, not in advances or losses in the fighting.

“We’re evaluating, literally on an hour-byhour basis, the security situation, both in Kabul and in other locations,” he said. “There is no evacuation of UN staff going on.”

In one province, Kunar, in eastern Afghanistan, since July 25, tens of thousands of people have been displaced by escalating conflict, Dujarric said. Some 14,000 internally displaced people are eligible to receive aid.

The United Nations and partners distributed food to almost 4,000 people in Kunar, he said. About 3,900 people received emergency shelter and relief, including kitchen sets. Mobile teams provide essential health and nutrition services.

The UN Refugee Agency said it is particularly worried about the impact of the conflict on women and girls, the spokesman said. Since May, women and children make up about 80 percent of the nearly 250,000 Afghans forced to flee their homes.