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More than 20,000 people have been evacuated in the past 24 hours as the United States and its allies plan to complete the evacuations before the August 31 deadline.
The United States and its Western allies are stepping up evacuation efforts after US President Joe Biden met the August 31 deadline to withdraw his troops from Afghanistan.
More than 70,000 people, foreigners and Afghans, have been airlifted out of Kabul since August 14, the day before the Taliban invaded the Afghan capital.
“The sooner we can finish, the better … every day of operations brings additional risk to our troops,” Biden said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has suspended aid to Afghanistan, freezing hundreds of millions of funds. It has provided $ 5.3 billion since 2002 and has 27 projects there. Last week, the IMF blocked the delivery of payments.
Aid agencies warn of the risk of famine and disease. David Beasley, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program noted 14 million people – a third of the Afghan population – face food insecurity.
“There is a perfect storm ahead due to years of drought, conflict, economic deterioration, made worse by COVID,” Beasley said, calling on the international community to donate $ 200 million in food aid .
Here are the latest updates:
Afghan Paralympians evacuated and safe: IPC
The two Afghan Paralympic athletes were safely evacuated from the country, the International Paralympic Committee said, refusing to specify their destination.
The two taekwondo athletes, Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli, were initially scheduled to represent their country at the Tokyo Paralympic Games. But with Afghanistan’s rapid fall to the Taliban, they were among the tens of thousands trapped and unable to leave the country.
IPC spokesman Craig Spence said the two will not be competing in the Games and for the time being they are focusing on their well-being.
WFP calls for emergency aid as millions of Afghans face famine
Millions of Afghans risk famine and “disaster on top of disaster”, the head of the United Nations World Food Program warned, saying the agency needed $ 200 million by the end of year to continue operations in Afghanistan following the Taliban attack. to resume.
WFP Executive Director David Beasley spoke to Al Jazeera on Tuesday as he visited a compound in Doha housing more than 500 refugees who have fled Afghanistan.
Read more here.
Is methamphetamine made in Afghanistan about to flood Europe?
Afghanistan is already the world’s largest supplier of opium. But opium, which is used to make heroin, is not the only illegal drug produced by the war-torn nation.
Over the past four years, Afghans have also improved in the manufacture of methamphetamine, known colloquially as speed, crystal, or meth.
Read more here.
Airbnb and other U.S. companies mobilize to help Afghan refugees
American companies, including Airbnb and Walmart, are helping the Afghan people.
Home-sharing company Airbnb said on Tuesday it would provide temporary housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees around the world.
Read more here.
Read the news from August 24 here.
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