Afghanistan will not accept condition-based aid, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid has said a day after senior UN officials met Taliban leaders in Kabul to discuss humanitarian assistance to the country. The group on Sunday said the UN had assured assistance to the country. 

UN Undersecretary-Seneral for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths visited Afghanistan last week and promised to maintain assistance for the Afghan people, the Taliban said last week. Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the head of the Taliban’s political office, and other officials met Griffiths as the country stares at a potentially catastrophic humanitarian crisis. 

In a press conference in Kabul on Monday, Mujahid said that they needed international humanitarian aid and welcome such aids; however, the aid should be free of conditions. Condition-based aid, he said, is deemed as "interference in our internal affairs" and they will not allow that. 

According to the International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC), around 18.4 million Afghans need humanitarian assistance, 7 million people are without health care facilities, and around 25 percent of people don’t have enough to eat. Furthermore, around 3.1 million children are at risk of acute malnutrition. 

“The UN delegation promised continuation of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, saying he would call for further assistance to Afghanistan during the coming meeting of donor countries,” Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.

Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, has been plunged into crisis as the US and major international lenders blocked billions of dollars in foreign aid following the collapse of the Western-backed government and the victory of the Taliban last month.

The UN is scheduled to hold a conference to discuss the aid for what UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described as a “looming humanitarian catastrophe”.

Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had flown over 90 tonnes of humanitarian relief material, including medical supplies, food items, and tents last week. The country’s health sector came under immense stress as the World Bank blocked the funding following the military takeover by the Taliban. 

Thousands of health workers were being paid by the World Bank to continue health services in the country. However, they are not sure now if they will receive their salaries. 

(SAM)