Taliban Says UN Promises To Continue Humanitarian Aid For Afghanistan, Antonio Guterres Wants Full Access

Illustration of conditions in Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/Mirahmad Kouhnavard)

JAKARTA - Senior Taliban officials met with the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs in Kabul on Sunday, pledging to maintain aid for the Afghan people, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the Taliban's political office and other officials meet Martin Griffiths as Afghanistan faces a potentially catastrophic humanitarian crisis caused by a severe drought and a slumping economy.

"The UN delegation promised continued humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, saying he would request further assistance to Afghanistan during the forthcoming donor countries meeting," Shaheen said on Twitter, citing Reuters Monday 6 September.

Afghanistan, one of the world's poorest countries, was plunged into crisis with the sudden end of billions of dollars in foreign aid after a Western-backed government was toppled and the Taliban took power on August 15.

Shaheen said the Taliban assured the UN delegation of "cooperation and provision of the necessary facilities.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is expected to hold an international aid conference in Geneva on September 13 to help prevent what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called a 'humanitarian catastrophe'.

The United Nations will hold an international aid conference in Geneva on September 13 to help prevent what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called a "looming humanitarian catastrophe".

"We need the international community to stand together and support the Afghan people," Guterres said in a tweet announcing the conference seeking a rapid increase in funding for humanitarian aid.

"We also ask for full and unhindered humanitarian access, to ensure Afghans continue to get the essential services they need," he said.

Many Afghans struggled to feed their families amid a severe drought before Taliban insurgents seized power last month and millions may now face starvation with the country's isolation and economy in shambles, aid agencies say.

"The United Nations stands in solidarity with the Afghan people and is committed to staying and giving for them," said Antonio Guterres.