From Reuters:
“U.S. to
provide nearly $55 mln more humanitarian aid for Afghanistan -Blinken”
The United
States will provide nearly $55 million in immediate aid for Afghanistan in
response to an earthquake that last week struck a remote southeastern region,
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday. At least 1,000 people died, more than 3,000
others were injured and 10,000 homes destroyed by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake
that struck the area near the country's border with Pakistan on June 22.
The new U.S.
assistance will be used to supply relief to people impacted by the disaster in
the form of cooking ware, jerry cans for water, blankets, clothing and other
items, including hygienic supplies to prevent a waterborne disease outbreak,
Blinken said in a statement. The earthquake, he said, "intensified the
ongoing humanitarian crisis the Afghan people have endured for too long." The
new aid brings to more than $774 million the amount of U.S. humanitarian
assistance provided for Afghanistan since last year, when the Taliban seized
power as the last U.S.-led troops withdrew after 20 years of war with the
hardline Islamists. The pullout and cutoffs by the United States and other
funders of direct assistance on which the impoverished nation depended worsened
financial and humanitarian crises that have seen the economy collapse and
millions endure food shortages.
Since the
earthquake, aftershocks have hit the stricken region, leaving partially damaged
homes uninhabitable and the area unsafe for survivors, according to a senior
Afghan official.
^ The US and
other countries need to make sure that the assistance is going to those that
need it and not helping the Taliban. ^
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