Kabul could become the first modern city in the world to run out of water by 2029, the UK head of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has warned following a week-long visit to Afghanistan.
Flora Alexander, Executive Director of IRC UK, said the growing water crisis comes as millions of Afghans already face food insecurity and limited access to health services and clean water.
Alexander called on the international community to continue supporting Afghans despite competing humanitarian crises elsewhere in the world.
“Kabul is predicted to become the first modern city in the world to run out of water by 2029. So, I hope your viewers understand that turning away from the people of Afghanistan is not the right thing for the international community to do,” Alexander said.
The warning follows earlier concerns over Kabul’s rapidly falling groundwater levels.
A 2025 Mercy Corps report found that nearly half of Kabul’s boreholes had dried up, while groundwater levels had fallen by up to 30 metres over a decade. The organisation warned that the city’s aquifers could run dry as early as 2030 without urgent action.
UN-Habitat has also said Afghanistan is rapidly urbanising and projected that one in two Afghans could be living in cities by 2060, placing further pressure on urban infrastructure.
An Afghan government spokesman had not responded to AnewZ by the time of publication. However, officials have previously said the Ministry of Energy and Water, the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and other organisations are working to manage the country’s water resources.
Alexander said Afghanistan’s water shortages are part of a wider humanitarian crisis, worsened by the return of Afghans from neighbouring Pakistan and Iran as well as cuts to humanitarian funding.
The United Nations estimates that 21.9 million people, around 45 per cent of Afghanistan’s population, require humanitarian assistance in 2026.
Alexander also raised concerns over restrictions on women’s employment and girls’ education, while urging continued international support for the Afghan population.
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Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 30 September 2026. These are the top five stories making headlines in Europe.
Passengers restrained a flydubai co-pilot who allegedly stabbed the pilot and tried to crash a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
Afghanistan says its forces have killed 41 fighters and captured 62 others after several days of fighting in eastern Nuristan, accusing Pakistan’s military of helping armed groups cross into Afghan territory.
Azerbaijan has opened ADEX 2026 and Securex Caspian in Baku, bringing together defence, security and technology representatives from around the world for the three-day exhibitions.
Kazakhstan and Germany have agreed to expand cooperation in critical minerals, industry, energy and transport, with Astana seeking a greater German role in developing supply chains and higher-value production.
Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom has proposed building a new 1,000-megawatt nuclear power unit in Armenia as Yerevan weighs competing international offers, its head Alexey Likhachev said on Tuesday.
Freight on the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway could soon move faster across borders after Georgia, Azerbaijan and Türkiye signed a new customs protocol aimed at cutting delays and streamlining transit.
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