United States officials announced on Monday that the nation's government will be sending nearly $64 million in humanitarian aid to support Afghanistan residents after more than $1 billion in financial support was pledged over to the war-torn country.
The day prior to the U.S. government's announcement, the United Nations issued an emergency call to raise $600 million to keep Afghans from starving. The incident comes after the American government was known to have spent $300 million per day to fund its war on terrorists in Afghanistan.
$1 Billion in Humanitarian Aid for Afghanistan
President Joe Biden's administration has yet to acknowledge and officially recognize the Taliban as the ruling government of the war-torn country. This comes as the militant group took over the capital Kabul and breached the presidential palace on Aug. 15.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. State Department partnered up to supply the fund. The money will be distributed through the UN and other independent aid groups. The American federal government's latest donation brings the total financial aid to Afghanistan from the U.S. to $330 million this year, The Hill reported.
The USAID also has a Disaster Assistance Response Team that is deployed outside Afghanistan that will be responsible for managing America's response to the humanitarian crisis in the country.
During a UN conference that urged the donations for the $600 million fund for Afghanistan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was too early to know how much would be going to the war-torn country. The official added that after decades of war and suffering, Afghans were perhaps in their "most perilous hour."
Guterres said residents in Afghanistan were at risk of running out of food by the end of the month, with the World Food Programme saying 14 million people were on the verge of starving. Several speakers in Geneva noted that the loss of billions of dollars of financial support to Afghanistan donors had a "moral obligation" to help the country after the 20-year engagement with the United States, Reuters reported.
Humanitarian Crisis in the War-Torn Country
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan was becoming more evident in many regions such as in Wardak Province, where the local economy is at a standstill. The majority of cross-border trade and many local businesses are still closed weeks after the Taliban took control of the nation's government.
A Wardak Province's Chak district villager, Zakariam, who was also a former Taliban fighter who served 16 years in prison, said there was at least security in the region. However, he noted that there was no work and that people were able to earn money to make a living. The former fighter said that flour prices at the local market have doubled.
Villagers have stopped cooking chicken and other meat, which is now considered a luxury, to afford cheaper products, such as beans and rice. Many people have started to ration their food, eating less and becoming uncertain of when they could get the money to pay for their next meals, the New York Times reported.
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