UN scales up assistance in Afghanistan

Kabul: UN humanitarians and partners have provided food assistance to more than 9 million Afghans since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Humanitarians have since September 2021 provided 9.4 million people with food assistance and reached over 145,600 children with community-based education activities, Xinhua news agency reported citing the OCHA as saying.

They have also provided more than 1.6 million people with primary and secondary health care and treated more than 275,000 children under 5 for acute malnutrition, it added.

In addition, over 550,000 people have been provided with water and sanitation hygiene assistance, including through hygiene promotion and hygiene kits, the humanitarian agency said.

Civilian casualties due to improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance (UXO) continue to be reported, noted the office.

On January 15, two children were reportedly killed when a UXO was accidentally detonated by a group of children playing in Helmand province.

On Sunday, two children were reportedly injured by a UXO detonation in Nangarhar province, said OCHA.

The UN Mine Action Service on January 12 carried out mine clearance operations and provided Explosive Ordnance Risk Education in villages in Lalpur District of Nangarhar province.

In addition, mine clearance operations are ongoing in Pachiragam and Chaparhar districts of the same province.