With the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on top of armed conflict and natural disasters in Afghanistan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that it hopes to reach 11.1 million people in the war-torn country with aid. The OCHA put the cost of assisting them at $1.1 billion, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Even before the pandemic reached Afghanistan, 9.4 million people needed humanitarian assistance to obtain food, clean water, basic healthcare and other essentials," it said on Thursday.

Economic consequences of the pandemic threaten to push even more people into financial insecurity and, in some cases, acute humanitarian need, it said.

While OCHA said in its Humanitarian Response Plan that 35 million of the 37.6 million people in Afghanistan lack a "humanitarian social net", 14 million of them are in "humanitarian need".

Of the 11.1 million people it hopes to reach, 5.8 million people have needs attributed to COVID-19.

The OCHA said 53 per cent of those targeted for humanitarian aid are children.

So far, only $227 million have been received for the Humanitarian Response Plan, the office said.

Khalilzad Calls for Immediate Start of Intra-Afghan Talks

US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who met with Afghan leaders this week, said the intra-Afghan negotiations between the Afghan government’s team and the Taliban “must begin immediately,” and adding that the prisoner releases, which are a precursor for start of the talks, have reached a new milestone.

On Thursday evening, President Ghani at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, vowed to release another 2,000 prisoners, something that has been requested from him frequently to move the peace process forward.
 
“We welcome the government now having exceeded 3,000 Talib prisoners released and the Taliban 500+. It is important that the process continues, and the prisoners release roadblock resolved,” Khalilzad said.
 
He said that “the Afghan-owned, Afghan-led negotiations between the inclusive Islamic Republic team and the Taliban negotiating team must begin immediately thereafter. From the start, getting to intra-Afghan negotiations (IAN) has been a key objective of our diplomacy.”
 
“We welcome the Taliban statement specifying they will participate in intra-Afghan negotiations within one week of the prisoner release commitment outlined in our agreement. Although many practical details need to be worked out, these developments are all very positive,” he said.
 
Khalilzad added that the US welcomes the Taliban statement specifying they will participate in IAN within one week of the prisoner release commitment outlined in our agreement.
 
“Although many practical details need to be worked out, these developments are all very positive,” he said.
 
Based on the US-Taliban agreement, 5,000 Taliban prisoners should be released ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations, something that now looks closer to happen as the government has released at least 3,000 Taliban prisoners.

https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/khalilzad-calls-immediate-start-intra-afghan-talks