India, Aug. 17 -- Five years after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul, acute human suffering across Afghanistan has escalated to unprecedented levels while global funding cuts severely destabilize frontline aid operations.
Humanitarian Need Surges
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) reports that 21.9 million people, nearly half of Afghanistan's entire population, now urgently require humanitarian aid. This represents a surge of 3.5 million people in need since 2021. The country faces severe compounding pressures:
Entry into a sixth consecutive year of prolonged drought, leaving 4.7 million people at emergency levels of food insecurity.
A massive influx of 3.2 million Afghan returnees deported or fleeing from Iran and Pakistan in...