Hundreds of Afghan families are queuing for food and shelter in a Kabul park after the Taliban overran their regions. This is the most apparent face of a humanitarian disaster unfolding in a war-torn country.
The Taliban's rapid invasion of Afghanistan this month, culminating in Kabul's surrender on August 15, has thrown the country into chaos.
While thousands of people have flocked to the airport in an attempt to evacuate, many more, such as the families in the park, are caught in the middle, unsure if it is safer to flee or stay put.
The Taliban, on the other hand, has denied down all help requests from Kabul's Internally Displaced People.
On Friday, a Taliban spokesman told Reuters that the group was not distributing food to the IDPs in the park and those at the airport because it would exacerbate the situation.
The Taliban advised the families to return to their homes.
"I'm in a bad situation," Zahida Bibi, a housewife, remarked as she sat with her huge family in the scorching sun. "My head is hurting. I'm in a bad mood, and there's nothing in my stomach."
Those at the park, according to Ahmed Waseem, who was displaced from northern Afghanistan, were expecting the central government would pay attention. "We are in an open field and in the heat," he explained.
After government forces melted away in the face of the Taliban offensive, Afghanistan's western-backed president and many other officials fled. Although the group has placed its members in ministries and ordered certain officials to return to work, services have yet to restart, with banks still shuttered.
Phalwan Sameer, a northern Afghan, claimed his family moved to Kabul after the situation in their hometown suddenly deteriorated.
"There was also a great deal of fighting and bombing. That is why we have come to this location. Our homes were set on fire, and we were forced to flee" he stated
After deliveries were halted at Kabul airport due to security concerns, the World Health Organization stated on Friday that it only had enough medical supplies in Afghanistan to last a few days, and the UN World Food Programme said the country urgently needs $200 million in food aid.
According to the United Nations, more than 18 million people – more than half of Afghanistan's population – are in need of assistance, and half of all Afghan children under the age of five are already suffering from acute malnutrition as a result of the country's second drought in four years.
The Taliban has told the United Nations that it will be able to continue humanitarian operations while other governments consider whether and how to assist the population under the harsh rule.
