Since January, more than 1.7 million Afghan citizens have returned from Iran and Pakistan, the United Nations said on Friday, warning of mounting humanitarian pressures.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that many of the returnees have limited connections to local communities and are struggling to access shelter and jobs, while host areas themselves lack sufficient services and resources.
To support the response, the UN Central Emergency Response Fund has released 10 million U.S. dollars, with additional contributions expected from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund. Aid groups are also bracing for further arrivals after Pakistan’s government set a 1 September deadline for Afghan Proof of Registration cardholders to leave.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than half of Afghanistan’s population requires urgent aid, with women and girls facing particularly severe risks.
OCHA stressed that funding gaps remain critical, noting that this year’s Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 25% financed, with $624 million secured out of the $2.4 billion required.
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The United Nations Security Council has renewed the Monitoring Team's mandate for another year. The Team supports the 1988 Afghanistan Sanctions Committee, keeping in place restrictions that target individuals and entities linked to the Taliban.
Afghanistan’s Health Minister has urged urgent action to strengthen domestic polio diagnostics and expand healthcare for returnees and vulnerable communities, pressing international partners in Kabul for faster, fully funded support as the country faces mounting strain on its health system.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari has accused Afghanistan’s authorities of fostering conditions “similar to or worse than pre-9/11”, as tensions between the two neighbours intensify amid a surge in militant attacks inside Pakistan.
Afghan officials and international partners met in Kabul on Wednesday (4 February) for the fourth meeting of the Doha Process Working Group on Counter-Narcotics, with officials citing a reduction in poppy cultivation to “nearly zero” as efforts to curb drug production and trafficking were reviewed.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said China has the power to bring an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine, arguing that Beijing is enabling Moscow’s military campaign.
Austria’s Janine Flock won the gold medal in the women’s skeleton event at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Saturday.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said the United States could evaluate its own interests separately from those of Israel in ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday (15 February) called it “troubling” a report by five European allies blaming Russia for killing late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny using a toxin from poison dart frogs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday that Russia’s decision to change the leadership of its delegation for upcoming peace talks in Geneva appeared to be an attempt to delay progress.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov has moved swiftly to consolidate his authority following the dismissal of his long-time ally Kamchybek Tashiev, head of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS).
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Geneva on Monday ahead of a second round of indirect nuclear talks with the United States, according to Iranian state media.
Azerbaijan and Serbia have formally launched a Strategic Partnership Council, marking a new phase in bilateral relations and placing cooperation under direct presidential oversight.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani said the United States could evaluate its own interests separately from those of Israel in ongoing negotiations between Tehran and Washington.
Four people were killed on Sunday evening in an Israeli drone strike targeting a vehicle in eastern Lebanon near the Lebanese-Syrian border, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported.
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