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ISLAMABAD: A growing number of Afghan citizens are accusing the Taliban of unfairly distributing humanitarian assistance, alleging that aid is being directed primarily to members of the ruling group&#39;s own ethnic community and close associates while many vulnerable families remain excluded. Residents in several parts of Afghanistan say local Taliban officials and community representatives interfere in the aid process, often collecting identification documents from applicants and using them to divert assistance to relatives and supporters, Hasht-e-Subh Daily reported.&nbsp; According to the report, Umid, a Kabul resident who asked to be identified by a pseudonym for security reasons, said he has been unemployed for years despite completing high school and now earns a meager living driving a rickshaw. &ldquo;I studied up to the twelfth grade, but I have not found work,&rdquo; he said while waiting for passengers on a roadside in the Afghan capital. &ldquo;Sometimes people give me a piece of bread out of pity, but we have not received any other help.&rdquo; Umid said a neighborhood representative gathered residents&rsquo; national identity cards and promised monthly food packages and $100 in cash assistance. He said the aid never reached the intended recipients. &ldquo;They used our ID cards and took the aid for themselves, dividing it among their tribe and relatives,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;For four years, they have benefited from this assistance while we struggle every day in the summer heat and winter cold just to earn enough money for one meal.&rdquo; He called on international aid organizations to strengthen oversight and verify whether assistance is reaching those most in need. Afghanistan remains heavily dependent on humanitarian aid following years of war, economic collapse and the Taliban&rsquo;s return to power in August 2021. Millions of Afghans face food insecurity, unemployment and limited access to basic services. Quoting political analysts, the Afghan media report says several factors hinder the effective delivery of aid, including political interference, weak monitoring systems, insecurity and the complexity of operating in a country where the Taliban exercises strict control over local institutions. Experts warn that without stronger accountability mechanisms, aid diversion could undermine donor confidence and deepen the hardship facing ordinary Afghans.

US Army humanitarian aid - (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Afghanistan

Afghans accuse the interim Taliban government of diverting humanitarian aid to loyalists and relatives, leaving many vulnerable families without assistance.

Afghans complain of unfair humanitarian aid distribution by Taliban government

ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan&rsquo;s humanitarian crisis has shifted from scarcity to poverty, with markets well supplied but nearly 22 million people unable to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/afghanistan-hunger-crisis-deepens-as-47-million-face-emergency-food-shortages-wfp" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">afford food</a>, according to recent humanitarian assessments. Grocery shelves across the country remain stocked with wheat, rice and cooking oil, yet access is constrained by collapsing incomes rather than shortages. The REACH Initiative&rsquo;s Quarterly Markets Overview &ndash; Spotlight on Supply found that &ldquo;declining household purchasing power, rather than market supply, is likely to be the primary constraint to access.&rdquo; Household earnings fall far below minimum needs. The Whole of Afghanistan Assessment showed the median household earns 8,100 Afghanis ($93) a month. In Ghor province, median income drops to 4,500 Afghanis ($69), insufficient to cover food&nbsp;costs&nbsp;alone. Earlier this week, the Taliban&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/afghanistan-bans-women-from-heavy-labour-in-nuristan-province" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">banned women</a>&nbsp;in Afghanistan&rsquo;s Nuristan province from engaging in heavy or physically demanding labor, citing the need to prevent what it called &ldquo;harmful customs and immoral practices.&rdquo; The order, announced in a statement on X by Deputy Minister of Information and Culture Muhajer Farahi, enforces the 17th decree of Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and was described by officials as part of efforts to &ldquo;reform society, preserve Islamic values, and prevent harmful traditions.&rdquo; The data points to a crisis fundamentally different from traditional famine conditions. Supply chains continue to function and goods remain available, but millions go hungry because they lack money, not because&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/pakistan-kinnow-records-strong-growth-despite-afghan-market-closure" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">markets</a>&nbsp;lack food. Aid gaps are widening as funding contracts. The International Rescue Committee&rsquo;s Protection Monitoring Report found that 30.8% of internally displaced people receive no financial assistance. The share of households that have exhausted all aid rose to 19% from 15% in October 2024, according to IOM data. Financial assistance is now the top priority for 25.1% of households, while fewer than 3% receive food assistance, IPC data showed. One-quarter of Afghanistan&rsquo;s population faces Crisis-level food insecurity, the IPC analysis found. Only 20% of households rely primarily on employment, while 37% depend on social transfers and humanitarian aid, the IRC reported. This dependence leaves families acutely vulnerable when assistance is reduced or withdrawn. Environmental shocks have compounded the economic collapse. Afghanistan entered its fifth consecutive year of drought in 2025, creating a grain deficit of 3 million tonnes, according to FAO data. Agriculture, which provides one-third of food consumption and nearly half of household income, has been severely damaged. Natural disasters have further strained livelihoods. An August earthquake caused damage exceeding 1% of GDP, World Bank estimates showed. A November earthquake struck areas where one-third of households suffered catastrophic losses. Humanitarian access has also deteriorated. The UN&rsquo;s Afghanistan Humanitarian Access Snapshot recorded 107 access&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/un-envoy-presses-taliban-on-womens-rights-during-kabul-visit" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">incidents</a>&nbsp;in December, up 16% from November. Taliban interference accounted for 84 incidents, or 78%, including restrictions on female aid workers and demands for beneficiary lists. Four incidents involved the detention of 10 aid workers, eight of them women. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/taliban-government-instituted-systematic-institutionalized-campaign-to-erase-afghan-women-un-experts" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Women</a>&nbsp;bear a disproportionate share of the impact. Women-headed households make up 73% of those monitored, the IRC found, while Taliban restrictions on women&rsquo;s employment, education and movement have created what aid groups describe as a gender-specific economic crisis within the broader emergency. Displacement continues despite limited prospects for recovery. Nearly 73% of displaced people have been uprooted for more than two years, with a median displacement of 1,095 days, according to IOM data. A further 325,000 people were newly displaced in the three months before October 2025. &ldquo;Returns to frontline areas are increasingly &lsquo;induced&rsquo; by exhaustion of coping capacities in displacement rather than improved safety,&rdquo; the IRC report said. Families, it added, are &ldquo;choosing danger over destitution,&rdquo; underscoring how economic collapse has overtaken security as the primary driver of movement. Australia announced $50 million in new humanitarian aid on Wednesday, bringing its total assistance to Afghanistan since 2021 to $310 million, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said. &ldquo;The situation in Afghanistan is dire,&rdquo; Foreign Minister Penny Wong said. &ldquo;Australia&rsquo;s humanitarian support will help save lives, alleviate suffering, and meet the basic needs of communities affected by the ongoing Afghanistan crisis.&rdquo;

In analyses published by humanitarian agencies, Afghanistan’s markets remain stocked, but collapsing incomes, aid cuts and Taliban restrictions have left nearly 22 million people food insecure, with one-quarter of the population in crisis and median monthly incomes at 8,100 Afghanis.

Afghan markets remain stocked but poverty leaves 22 million unable to buy

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to flood-ravaged Sri Lanka has been delayed for more than 60 hours awaiting flight clearance from India, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday. In an official statement, the Foreign Office reported that India issued partial clearance late Sunday after a 48-hour delay. However, the authorization was &quot;operationally impractical.&quot; The time-limited clearance was valid for only a few hours and did not include permission for the return flight. The foreign office said the restrictions were severely hindering relief efforts for Sri Lanka, where flooding has killed at least 355 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. India banned Pakistan-registered aircraft from its airspace on April 30, days after Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian carriers on April 24. The restrictions followed India&#39;s unilateral decision to withdraw from the Indus Waters Treaty and accused Pakistan of orchestrating an attack in Pahalgam, Indian-occupied Kashmir, without any evidence. Sri Lanka&rsquo;s flood crisis Sri Lanka is facing one of the region&#39;s worst flooding disasters in recent years. Heavy rains linked to Cyclone Ditwah caused the Kelani River to overflow, submerging large areas of Colombo and surrounding districts. Of Sri Lanka&#39;s 355 confirmed deaths, 257 occurred in the central tea-growing highlands, according to official figures. Another 366 people remain missing. Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has declared a state of emergency and pledged to rebuild with international support. Nearly 210,000 people are sheltering in relief camps, and another 1.15 million require assistance, according to government data. Water levels in Colombo have peaked and are expected to recede soon, authorities said.

Asia

India has delayed clearance for a Pakistani aid flight to flood-hit Sri Lanka, hindering relief efforts amid severe flooding on the island.

India blocking humanitarian flights to flood-hit Sri Lanka: Foreign Office

ANKARA/ROME: Some 137 activists detained by Israel for taking part in a flotilla seeking to deliver aid to Gaza arrived in Turkey on Saturday after being deported, with two alleging that Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was mistreated during her detention. Israel did not immediately comment on the new allegations, but its foreign ministry earlier described reports that detainees had been mistreated as &ldquo;complete lies.&rdquo; The activists who landed at Istanbul Airport included 36 Turkish nationals, as well as citizens from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Jordan, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry sources. Thunberg &lsquo;treated terribly,&rsquo; activist allegesTwo of them, Hazwani Helmi, a Malaysian citizen, and Windfield Beaver, an American citizen, told Reuters at the airport that they had witnessed Thunberg being mistreated, saying she was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag. &ldquo;It was a disaster. They treated us like animals,&rdquo; said Helmi, 28, adding that detainees were not provided with clean food or water and that medication and belongings were confiscated. Beaver, 43, said Thunberg was &ldquo;treated terribly&rdquo; and &ldquo;used as propaganda,&rdquo; describing how she was pushed into a room as Israel&rsquo;s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived. Israel has faced international condemnation after its military intercepted about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 activists. Its foreign ministry wrote on X that all detained activists were &ldquo;safe and in good health,&rdquo; adding it was keen to complete the remaining deportations &ldquo;as quickly as possible.&rdquo; In a separate X post, it accused some flotilla members of &ldquo;deliberately obstructing&rdquo; the deportation process, without providing evidence. Reuters was unable to verify the allegation independently. Israel denies allegations of mistreatmentItaly&rsquo;s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italians were on board the Turkish Airlines flight, with another 15 still held in Israel and set to be expelled over the next few days, along with activists from other nations. &ldquo;I have once again given instructions to the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to ensure that the remaining compatriots are treated with respect for their rights,&rdquo; Tajani wrote on X. A first group of Italians from the flotilla &mdash; four parliamentarians &mdash; arrived in Rome on Friday. &ldquo;Those who were acting legally were the people aboard those boats; those who acted illegally were those who prevented them from reaching Gaza,&rdquo; Arturo Scotto, one of the Italian lawmakers who took part in the mission, told a press conference in Rome. &ldquo;We were brutally stopped ... brutally taken hostage,&rdquo; said Benedetta Scuderi, another Italian parliamentarian. According to Adalah, an Israeli group offering legal assistance to flotilla members, some detainees were denied access to lawyers, water, medication, and toilets. They were also &ldquo;forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours after some participants chanted &lsquo;Free Palestine,&rsquo;&rdquo; Adalah said. Israel denied the allegations. &ldquo;All of Adalah&rsquo;s claims are complete lies. Of course, all detainees were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld,&rdquo; a foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters. The flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Israel has been waging a war since the Palestinian militant group Hamas&rsquo;s deadly attack on Israel in October 2023. Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt and warned it against violating a &ldquo;lawful naval blockade.&rdquo;

Halil Rifat Canakci of Turkey, one of the activists who were sailing aboard vessels from the Global Sumud Flotilla which were seized by Israeli forces, reacts after arriving at Istanbul Airport on a special flight, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 4, 2025. RE

Middle East

Europe

Some 137 activists detained by Israel arrive in Turkey after being deported, with two alleging that the Swedish campaigner was mistreated during her detention. Israel's foreign ministry describes reports that detainees had been mistreated as 'complete lies.'

Articles tagged with "Humanitarian Aid"

Afghans complain of unfair humanitarian aid distribution by Taliban government

Afghan markets remain stocked but poverty leaves 22 million unable to buy

India blocking humanitarian flights to flood-hit Sri Lanka: Foreign Office

Freed activists allege Greta Thunberg mistreated in Israeli custody