Afghanistan

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres briefs an emergency UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Afghanistan: ‘Now is the time to stand as one’, UN chief tells Security Council

16 August 2021
Peace and Security

As desperate Afghans were trying to escape the Taliban and board planes, during chaotic scenes at Kabul airport on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for international unity on Afghanistan, in a briefing to an emergency session of the Security Council. 

A five-year-old boy holds his younger brother in a displaced persons camp in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Amid a deepening crisis, the UN is striving to assist people in need

15 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

The conflict in Afghanistan has intensified in recent weeks, with Taliban fighters reaching Kabul over the weekend. More than 1,000 people have been killed or wounded in indiscriminate attacks on civilians, including in Helmand, Kandahar and Herat provinces.

The fast-evolving conflict has reportedly reached, Kabul, the centre of Afghanistan’s social and political life
Photo UNAMA/Fardin Waezi

Afghanistan: Guterres urges restraint as Taliban reach Kabul; UN Security Council set to meet Monday

15 August 2021
Peace and Security

As the crisis in Afghanistan deepens by the hour, with reports that insurgent forces reached the country’s capital, Kabul, earlier on Sunday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has urged the Taliban and all other parties “to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and ensure that humanitarian needs can be addressed.”

A mother and her child in the Haji camp for internally displaced people in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

Afghanistan: UN chief urges Taliban to halt offensive immediately, negotiate ‘in good faith’

13 August 2021
Peace and Security

The UN Secretary-General on Friday called on Taliban militants to “immediately halt” their offensive against Government forces and return to the negotiating table in good faith, “in the interest of Afghanistan, and its people.”

A mother and her son, who suffered severe burns when their home was attacked, seek refuge in the Haji camp for internally displaced people in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
© UNICEF Afghanistan

Fast-moving Afghanistan crisis ‘has hallmarks of humanitarian catastrophe’

13 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Afghanistan is on course to witness its highest ever number of documented civilian casualties in a single year since records began, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.

IOM are supporting displaced families in Afghanistan, providing emergency shelter and protection.
IOM/Mohammed Muse

UN rights chief condemns Afghanistan abuses as Taliban advance continues

10 August 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Disturbing reports of Taliban violence against communities now under their control in Afghanistan have been condemned by UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet, who on Tuesday backed a return to peace negotiations in Doha.

People displaced by insecurity in Afghanistan shelter at a Camp in western Herat province.
IOM/Muse Mohammed

Afghanistan at ‘dangerous turning point’, UN envoy warns Security Council

6 August 2021
Peace and Security

With the war in Afghanistan now in “a new, deadlier, and more destructive phase”, the top UN official in the country appealed on Friday for the Security Council to act to avert a catastrophe. 

A young boy walks along the Spin Boldak-Chaman border of Afghanistan and Pakistan in February 2021.
IOM/Muse Mohammed

Displaced Afghans face ‘continued deterioration’ in country

6 August 2021
Peace and Security

The situation for people who have been displaced due to an upsurge in fighting in Afghanistan following the resurgence of the Taliban is expected to continue to deteriorate, unless more is done to assist them, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The Pul-e-Kheshti Mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan. (file photo)
UNAMA/Freshta Dunia

Afghanistan: UN mission demands end to fighting as Taliban advance

3 August 2021
Peace and Security

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Tuesday called for an immediate end to fighting in urban areas, as the Taliban continues a ground assault in the south of the country. 

A record number of children and women have been killed or wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021.
UNAMA/Dilawar Khan Dilawar

Afghanistan: Record number of women and children killed or wounded

26 July 2021
Peace and Security

More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since records began in 2009, a United Nations report revealed on Monday.