A U.S. federal judge has struck down four U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) policies that delayed or subjected immigration benefit applications filed by nationals of Afghanistan and 38 other countries to heightened scrutiny, ruling that the agency exceeded its legal authority under federal administrative law.
The decision follows a ruling that also rejected the U.S. government’s request to pause the judgment while it pursues an appeal. According to AfghanEvac on 15 July, USCIS has already resumed processing immigration benefit applications that had been placed on hold under the now-vacated policies.
The ruling, issued under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), found that USCIS acted beyond the authority granted by Congress when it implemented policies that paused adjudications, suspended certain asylum decisions, required previously approved cases to undergo additional review, and instructed immigration officers to treat nationality from designated countries as a significant negative factor in discretionary decisions.
The court vacated four agency policies: the Benefits Hold Policy, which prevented final decisions on many immigration applications; the Global Asylum Hold Policy, which paused asylum and withholding-of-removal cases; the Comprehensive Re-Review Policy, which required previously approved applications to be reassessed; and the Country-Specific Factors Policy, which directed officers to weigh an applicant’s nationality negatively in discretionary immigration determinations.
The judge concluded that USCIS failed to provide an adequate legal basis for the policies and did not properly consider the reliance interests of applicants who had already completed interviews, submitted biometric information and passed security screenings. The court found the agency’s actions to be arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act.
On July 15, the court also denied the government’s motion to stay the ruling pending appeal, finding that the administration had not demonstrated a likelihood of success on appeal or shown that allowing the decision to remain in effect would cause irreparable harm.
According to AfghanEvac, USCIS has already implemented the ruling nationwide and is treating the challenged policy guidance as no longer in effect. As a result, immigration benefit applications that had been frozen under the policies have resumed moving through the adjudication process.
The ruling is expected to have its greatest immediate impact on Afghan nationals and other affected applicants already residing in the United States with pending applications for adjustment of status, asylum-related benefits, employment authorization and naturalization.
However, the decision does not invalidate the presidential travel restrictions affecting Afghanistan and other countries. It also does not restart the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, resume Operation Enduring Welcome, reopen overseas visa processing, or affect Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applications handled by U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
The court resolved the dispute solely on administrative law grounds and declined to issue a permanent injunction or rule on broader constitutional claims.
The Justice Department has appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. While the challenged USCIS policies remain invalid, the government may still seek emergency relief from the appellate court as the litigation continues.
U.S. Judge Strikes Down Four USCIS Policies Delaying Afghan Immigration Cases
Russia has expressed renewed concern over Afghanistan’s humanitarian situation, citing high infant mortality and the continued spread of polio while accusing Western countries of politicizing humanitarian assistance and maintaining measures that have worsened the country’s economic crisis.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday that Afghanistan continues to face severe humanitarian challenges, describing infant mortality and the resurgence of polio as among the country’s most pressing public health concerns.
Citing World Health Organization (WHO) data, Zakharova said 21 polio cases had been recorded in border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan during 2025 and 2026. She added that many children under the age of 10 in those regions remain unvaccinated, increasing the risk of further transmission.
Zakharova also said Afghanistan’s infant mortality rate stands at 33.1 deaths per 1,000 live births, describing it as significantly higher than the global average and attributing the situation to the country’s fragile healthcare system and prolonged humanitarian crisis.
Her remarks came after the WHO announced four new cases of wild poliovirus in Afghanistan, reported in Nangarhar, Helmand and Herat provinces. According to the agency, the new infections bring the number of confirmed polio cases in Afghanistan this year to 11, underscoring continued challenges to eradication efforts.
Afghanistan remains one of only two countries where wild poliovirus remains endemic. The WHO and other humanitarian organizations have repeatedly warned that insecurity, population displacement, limited healthcare access, funding shortages and interruptions to vaccination campaigns continue to hamper eradication efforts, particularly in remote and underserved areas.
United Nations agencies have also warned that Afghanistan’s broader humanitarian crisis has been intensified by economic decline, widespread poverty, climate-related shocks and declining international aid. They have further stated that restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 have complicated the delivery of humanitarian assistance and reduced access to healthcare and other essential services.
Russia Warns of Worsening Humanitarian Crisis as Polio Cases Rise in Afghanistan
Fitrat said that the Islamic Emirate’s defense minister, visited Badakhshan to meet with border forces stationed in several frontier districts.
The Chief of Army Staff of the Islamic Emirate’s Ministry of Defense says foreign intelligence agencies targeted Chinese nationals in an effort to undermine confidence in the Islamic Emirate.
Speaking to reporters about attacks on Chinese citizens that occurred on November 26 and 30, 2025 near the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, Fasihuddin Fitrat said the attacks were likely orchestrated by certain foreign intelligence agencies to damage the Islamic Emirate’s reputation.
He said: “There have recently been no security problems for Chinese or other foreign nationals along Afghanistan’s borders. They have not been harmed. Only two incidents occurred on Tajikistan’s soil that killed Chinese workers. The first attack may have involved foreign intelligence agencies, who perhaps wanted to portray the Islamic Emirate negatively to neighboring countries.”
In another part of his remarks, Fitrat said that Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid, the Islamic Emirate’s defense minister, visited Badakhshan to meet with border forces stationed in several frontier districts and assess their conditions.
Fitrat added: “The purpose of his trip was to meet the Mujahideen, check on those serving in the remotest part of Afghanistan, the Pamir region, and assess the needs of the security forces.”
His remarks come after five Chinese nationals were killed in two separate attacks near the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border in December last year.
Tajik authorities said the attacks were launched from Afghan territory.
IEA Blames Foreign Intelligence for Attacks on Chinese Nationals
The organization said that civilian casualties alone do not necessarily constitute a violation of the laws of war.
Human Rights Watch, citing reports by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), says that at least 28 civilians were killed and 49 others, including women and children, were injured as a result of Pakistani attacks on the provinces of Paktia, Paktika, and Kunar.
The organization said that civilian casualties alone do not necessarily constitute a violation of the laws of war. However, the growing number of victims underscores the need for independent and impartial investigations into the possible commission of war crimes by the parties involved in the conflict.
Human Rights Watch stated: “International humanitarian law requires warring parties to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm. Attacking forces must at all times distinguish between civilians and civilian objects on the one hand, and combatants and military objectives on the other, and only target the latter.”
Political analyst Enayatullah Hamam said: “This is a legal case. Officials from the Islamic Emirate’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs should have filed a complaint before international courts of justice.”
The report also referred to Pakistan’s airstrikes in Kunar and on a drug rehabilitation center in Kabul, saying these incidents have further heightened concerns about the protection of civilians during hostilities.
Political analyst Fazlminallah Mumtaz said: “A conflict between two countries exists when both are belligerent states and are deliberately engaged in hostilities over a specific issue. But Pakistan’s actions constitute a clear, ruthless, and criminal act of aggression.”
Military analyst Asadullah Nadim said: “Attacks on civilians, whether during wartime or peacetime, are prohibited and condemned under international law.”
According to UNAMA, at least 750 civilians were martyred or injured in the first three months of the current year as a result of Pakistan’s attacks in Afghanistan.
Human Rights Watch Calls for Probe Into Pakistan Strikes in Afghanistan
New York, 15 July 2026 – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh as his new Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
Ms. Fatima succeeds Roza Otunbayeva of Kyrgyzstan, to whom the Secretary-General expressed his gratitude for her dedicated service. He also thanks Georgette Gagnon of Canada, Deputy Special Representative of UNAMA, who currently serves as Officer-in-Charge of the Mission.
Ms. Fatima brings to the position over 30 years of experience in national and international civil service, encompassing bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, policymaking, advocacy, programme planning and implementation. She currently serves as Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).
Prior to this, she was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York (2019-2022). In that capacity, she served as the President of the Executive Boards of UNICEF (2020) and UN-Women (2022), as well as Vice-President of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board (2021). She was the first woman to be elected as the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission in 2022. She also served as a Vice-President of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
As a career diplomat, Ms. Fatima served as Ambassador of Bangladesh to Japan (2016-2019), as Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh (2015-2016), and in Bangladesh missions in New York, Geneva, Beijing and Kolkata, and in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in different capacities.
Ms. Fatima also served in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as Regional Adviser for South and South-West Asia and Regional Adviser for Climate Change and Migration (2012-2015), and as Regional Representative for South Asia (2007-2011). She was also the Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London (2006-2007).
Ms. Fatima holds a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, United States, and a bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of Canberra, Australia. In addition to her native Bangla, she speaks English and has working knowledge of Hindi and Urdu.
Secretary-General appoints Ms. Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh as Special Representative for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)
Pakistani police have detained 13 Afghan doctors and one Afghan medical student in Punjab’s Multan city and transferred them to a deportation center, despite the group saying their visa applications have remained pending for nearly a year.
Pakistani police have detained 13 Afghan doctors and one Afghan medical student in Multan, Punjab province, and transferred them to a deportation center, as the detainees say their visa applications have remained unresolved for nearly a year.
The detainees stated on Tuesday, July 14, that police arrested them from a government hospital in Multan before transferring them to a detention facility in Attock, where they now face possible deportation. They said they had applied for new visas or visa extensions about a year ago but had yet to receive any final decision from Pakistani authorities.
According to the detainees, five of them had applied for entry visas while the remaining doctors sought extensions of their existing visas. They said Pakistani police and security agencies had repeatedly inspected their documents over the past year, yet their immigration cases remained pending without any official resolution.
The doctors expressed concern that they could be deported before completing their medical specialization and training programs. They appealed to both the Pakistani government and the Taliban authorities to intervene and allow them to remain in Pakistan until they finish their studies.
The arrests come as Pakistan continues to intensify its crackdown on undocumented foreign nationals, particularly Afghan citizens, with authorities expanding detention and deportation operations across the country in recent months.
Earlier this week, Punjab police also detained one Afghan doctor and at least 10 Afghan medical students enrolled in universities and teaching hospitals across the province. According to reports, 10 of the detainees were undergoing specialist training at Quaid-e-Azam Medical University and Bahawalpur Teaching Hospital when they were arrested, while another Afghan doctor, Noorullah, was detained at Sahiwal Teaching Hospital.
Although Pakistani authorities have not officially explained the arrests, the detainees said they were taken into custody after their visas expired. The successive arrests have heightened concerns among Afghan medical professionals and students in Pakistan, many of whom say they face uncertainty despite having applied to regularize their immigration status.
13 Afghan Doctors, Medical Student Detained in Pakistan
The students say they are currently pursuing studies in various fields, but due to the non-renewal of their visas, they are at risk of deportation.
As the new phase of the forced deportation of Afghan migrants from Pakistan begins, a number of Afghan students have told TOLOnews that Pakistani police are also detaining and deporting students.
The students say they are currently pursuing studies in various fields, but due to the non-renewal of their visas, they are at risk of deportation.
They have called on the Islamic Emirate to engage with the relevant Pakistani authorities to prevent the deportation and harassment of Afghan students.
An Afghan student in Pakistan told TOLOnews: “Most of us applied for visa extensions on time, but we have still not received any clear response, and we do not know whether our applications will be approved or rejected.”
Sediq Shariati, head of the Afghan Students Union in Pakistan, said: “Afghan students in Pakistan are facing a very difficult situation. Every day, they are detained from different parts of the country, transferred to detention camps, and then deported to Afghanistan. This situation has had a serious psychological impact on all students.”
Officials at the Embassy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in Islamabad and the Afghan Consulate in Pakistan’s Sindh province say they have raised the challenges facing Afghan students with Pakistani authorities and are working to expedite the visa extension process for Afghan students in the country.
Abdul Jabbar Takhari, the Islamic Emirate’s Consul General in Sindh province, said: “Our request to the Pakistani government is to allow students to complete their studies peacefully and to provide the necessary cooperation in extending their visas.”
Yesterday, a number of students also sent a video to TOLOnews, saying they were under police surveillance and were not allowed to move freely or leave their places of residence.
At 13, Sima became a bride inside the compound where she still lives, and where she has given birth to her children. One child died of pneumonia aged one. She does all the housework: fetching water, tending the cows, baking naan in a tandoor. All the while, her children cling to her legs, crying.
Sima’s case is no longer exceptional. Interviews with workers at one public hospital in northern Afghanistan revealed that 42 underage girls gave birth in the first five months of this year. Six were in their second pregnancy. Five had ectopic pregnancies – a leading cause of maternal deaths – and 18 had caesarean sections. Two died, though their babies survived.
They are victims of a growing trend toward child marriage, driven by Taliban policies legalising the practice and forcing girls out of school, combined with a deepening humanitarian crisis in which families are forced to sell their daughters to pay debts or buy food. As well as Sima’s family, the Guardian and Zan Times spoke to three other families with daughters under nine who were traded in marriage to settle debts. The youngest was two months old when she was promised as a bride, with all the families pledging to give the girls to their future husbands when they reached between seven and nine years old.
Regression under the Taliban
Child marriage is not new to south Asia. But while the practice across the region has been declining, the Taliban takeover reversed that trend in Afghanistan. Shabnam*, a midwife, says: “Since the new government came to power, the number of child mothers has increased dramatically. In the past, perhaps only two child mothers visited the hospital each month, most of whom were from illiterate families. But now, literate and illiterate families marry off their daughters at a young age.”
Globally, “underage” means under 18, protected as a minor under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The World Health Organization separately warns against pregnancy below the age of 20, as mothers and babies risk “major health consequences”.
Shabnam recalls a 2024 case in which a 13-year-old came to her with severe bleeding after suffering a miscarriage. “I was deeply saddened. I spoke with her mother, and the response I heard from her still echoes in my mind. When I asked why she allowed her 13-year-old daughter to marry a man nearly 30 years old, she said: ‘To feed my other children, I had to sacrifice one of them.’”
Some families falsely believe the younger the mother, the healthier and smarter the child. Mothers who are still children themselves often haven’t completed their physical or psychological growth and face higher risk of severe bleeding, anaemia, miscarriage, obstructed labour and premature birth, along with a greater likelihood of a low-weight or unhealthy infant.
Sima says she is still feeling the effects of bearing children so young. “During my pregnancy, I fainted several times because my blood pressure dropped very low. I always have a headache. My kidneys ache. I feel like a 70-year-old person,” she says.
Shabnam says families often resist caesarean section, believing they limit future pregnancies. Two young mothers in her care recently died in childbirth because their husbands refused to permit one.
A report in June by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs put Afghanistan’s maternal mortality rate at 600 per 100,000 live births, compared with 16 in Iran, 155 in Pakistan, and 12 in the UK. The report cites restrictions on women in healthcare and a shortage of rural health workers, and calls investment in education and female health staff vital.
Sima is one of more than 2.2 million Afghan girls who have been barred from education above the sixth grade (about 12 years) since the Taliban returned to power. Many are now forced into marriage and premature motherhood. The Afghanistan Human Rights Center reports that one teacher estimated 70% of girls pushed out of school had been driven into forced marriages, while a smaller survey of 15 such girls found 66% of them were under 18.
While the country’s pre-Taliban laws criminalised marriage under 15, a new decree this year set no minimum age at all. It follows the closure of schools and universities to women and growing restrictions on their mobility. The new laws have cut women and girls off from education and work, compounding Afghanistan’s economic distress amid rising unemployment.
Sima’s 24-year-old husband is unemployed; he went to Iran seeking work but returned empty-handed after three months. She wishes she could work, but as a mother of three with responsibilities at home, there is no opportunity to earn or learn a skill. “Five families live in one compound: my parents, my uncle with his two wives, and my brother with his wife,” says Sima. “Whenever others have something left over, they give it to us. Most of the time, we are hungry.”
After the Taliban closed school gates and banned women from most public jobs, Sima’s family used her to settle a debt: her father owed his brother 200,000 afghani (about £2,380), and Sima was given to the brother’s son in lieu of a bride price.
A recent UN Development Programme report shows three-quarters of Afghanistan’s population, about 28 million people, cannot afford basic needs and more than 80% of households are in debt. With the gutting of USAID and rollback of aid commitments in Europe and the UK, international assistance to the country fell by more than 16% in 2025, closing or restricting hundreds of medical clinics. Without investment in employment and services, the report warns, prospects for rebuilding people’s lives are poor.
Girls being sold as toddlers
The other three families interviewed for this report, all in western Afghanistan, say their daughters had been used to settle debts – money paid in advance, the daughters to be handed over later. Three of the girls are still under 10, unaware of the future that has been planned for them.
Golnar*, 57, holds her one-year-old granddaughter in her arms as she speaks. The girl was sold to settle her father’s debt, she says, after he fled creditors. They had no food to eat. The sale, explicitly for future marriage, was for 200,000 afghani in cash and the clearing of some debts.
“When she turns eight, they will take her from us,” says Golnar. “They gave 100,000 afghani upfront, and they will give another 100,000 after they take the girl from me. We gave it directly to the creditors for the debts.” She worries about her granddaughter’s future, remembering girls sold years ago in her neighbourhood: “They have no future. Whether they leave us to burn in a fire or face anything else, we will not know.”
Saheb Jan*, 51, pledged away her granddaughter at two months old to settle a debt, with a promise to hand her over at the age of seven. Jan is comforted that they at least know the buyer, but upset that no cash changed hands and their hunger continues. “We gave this girl away for the debts and that was it,” she says. “God is witness that even now, our living conditions are terrible and miserable.”
Sabza*, 44, sold her now seven-year-old daughter when the child was three, for a debt of 300,000 afghani (about £3,570), after returning from Pakistan to find nothing to eat and a husband too sick to work. She is now distraught that her daughter will be taken within a year. “If there were someone to give us this money, I would be so happy; if my daughter stays with me, I will be overjoyed,” she says.
Her other children always ask why she sold their sister, she says. “If my daughter goes to her aunt’s house, she comes back in a panic and asks me where her sister went. I don’t know what state they will be in after she is taken away. When I think that they will take my daughter in a year, the sky collapses on my head. I tell myself there is only one year left, no more.”
*Names have been changed
‘When she turns eight they will take her’: rising number of Afghan girls being sold into child marriage
The Islamic Emirate official also stressed the importance of justice, saying that expression should be aimed at reform.
The Head of the Administrative Office, Sheikh Noor-ul-Haq Anwar, said during a journalist capacity-building program in Maidan Wardak province that, while emphasizing the importance of conveying facts through the media, freedom of expression is protected in Islam. However, he added that those who exceed the limits of this freedom and make accusations against the system are considered criminals.
The Islamic Emirate official also stressed the importance of justice, saying that expression should be aimed at reform.
He said: “Whoever speaks, the most important thing is truthfulness. Do not deviate from truth and justice. They make accusations, violate people’s rights, provide false interpretations, and pursue negative objectives. There is no place for such things in Islam.”
At the same time, the Deputy Minister for Publications Affairs at the Ministry of Information and Culture, Hayatullah Muhajir Farahi, reacting to Pakistan’s recent attacks on Afghanistan, said that the country currently has a strong and centralized system capable of responding in kind to any attack by the enemy.
Farahi added that the leadership of the Islamic Emirate has begun efforts to make the country self-sufficient in defense and military affairs.
Hayatullah Muhajir Farahi said: “Our system has the capability to respond in kind to any attack by the enemy. As you saw a few days ago, the Islamic Emirate’s air force targeted and struck enemy positions across the line in some areas of Balochistan, Peshawar, and Quetta.”
During the meeting, officials and some media representatives described delivering facts and producing effective content as the primary mission of media organizations and journalists.
The Director of Media Monitoring at the Ministry of Information and Culture, Safiullah Raeed, said: “Societies are not reformed by weapons alone; they are also transformed by the power of the pen. Clarify those harmful customs and innovations that have taken the place of religion through scholarly documentation and wise writing.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Information and Culture in Maidan Wardak, Habibullah Mujahid, said: “Since the victory, we have not had any incident in Maidan Wardak that would cause dissatisfaction. We have many active media outlets, and they have always reported the truth.”
The head of TOLOnews, Faridullah Mohammadi, also said: “Our mission and responsibility is to deliver the truth, whether it is from the government to the people or from the people to the government. We pledge to stand by this homeland in difficult times and to support this country and its sacred values.”
The capacity-building seminar was attended by around 400 journalists, writers, young people, and tribal elders. Discussions focused on the effective role of the media, and journalists were urged to produce content while respecting the country’s religious and national values.
Anwar: Those Who Exceed Free Speech Limits Are Criminals
Member states of the OIC called on Afghanistan to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life.
The two-day meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) concluded with the adoption of a resolution.
According to the resolution, adopted at the Ninth Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women held in Islamabad, participants expressed concern over the continued restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan.
The 32-point resolution states that the restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan are inconsistent with Islamic values. Participants called for the removal of barriers preventing women from accessing education and professional opportunities.
The resolution reads: “Expressing deep concern over the continued restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan, which are inconsistent with Islamic values that uphold the dignity, rights and advancement of women and girls.”
Political analyst Gul Mohammad Din Mohammadi said: “If they believe certain actions here violate women’s rights or are inconsistent with Islamic law, they should engage directly with the officials of the Islamic Emirate and seek cooperation to resolve these issues.”
In another part of the resolution, the 57 member states of the OIC called on Afghanistan to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life in accordance with Islamic values.
Women’s rights activist Mumtaz Yousafzai said: “Over the past five years, we have not been able to provide society with enough qualified teachers or doctors. Without a doubt, when a mother receives an education, she can raise educated children.”
Although officials of the Islamic Emirate have not yet commented on the resolution, Noor-ul-Haq Anwar, head of the Office of Administrative Affairs, recently rejected Western criticism regarding women’s rights. He argued that what Western countries describe as women’s rights does not reflect Islamic principles and instead amounts to injustice toward women.
Anwar said: “What they call women’s rights, when compared with Sharia, is like taking a single drop from the sea. In fact, what they present as women’s rights is not women’s rights at all, but rather injustice and oppression against women.”
The OIC meeting, attended by representatives of its 57 member states, concluded on Monday evening with an emphasis on supporting women and expanding opportunities for them.
OIC Calls for Lifting Restrictions on Women, Girls in Afghanistan
The United Nations says aid workers are still in a “race against time” to remove rubble and rebuild after the devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last month, killing at least 2,200 people and cutting off remote areas.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on Aug. 31 was shallow, destroying or causing extensive damage to low-rise buildings in the mountainous region. It hit late at night, and homes — mostly made of mud, wood, or rocks — collapsed instantly, becoming death traps.
Satellite data shows that about 40,500 truckloads of debris still needs to be cleared from affected areas in several provinces, the United Nations Development Program said Wednesday. Entire communities have been upended and families are sleeping in the open, it added.
The quake’s epicenter was in remote and rugged Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief efforts by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Authorities deployed helicopters or airdropped army commandos to evacuate survivors. Aid workers walked for hours on foot to reach isolated communities.
“This is a race against time,” said Devanand Ramiah, from the UNDP’s Crisis Bureau. “Debris removal and reconstruction operations must start safely and swiftly.”
People’s main demands were the reconstruction of houses and water supplies, according to a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with helping survivors, Zia ur Rahman Speenghar.
People were getting assistance in cash, food, tents, beds, and other necessities, Speenghar said Thursday. Three new roads were under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and roads would be built to areas where there previously were none.
“Various countries and organizations have offered assistance in the construction of houses but that takes time. After the second round of assistance, work will begin on the third round, which is considering what kind of houses can be built here,” the spokesman said.
Afghanistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises, including natural disasters like the recent earthquake, said Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country.
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
