As the cold season arrives in Badghis province, the Taliban ordered several non-governmental relief organizations to cease their operations until further notice, local sources told Zan Times on Wednesday, October, 19. The reason for the suspension hasn’t been made public.
“Taliban officials said, ‘You can’t operate until the next order,’” is how one anonymous source in Badghis explained what happened to Zan Times. The command comes as Badghis is struggling to cope with an influx of displaced families from the surrounding areas. And those people say they rely on humanitarian aid and that the Taliban should allow relief organizations to restart their work in the province.
One of those displaced people is Abdul Rahim, who left Jund district within the province three years ago for the capital, Qalainau, because of fighting between the former government’s forces and the Taliban. “There is no job here. We are eight at home,” he tells Zan Times. “Who would pay their expenses? These institutions are helpful. We have relied on these institutions to make a living.”
Another displaced person, Abdul Ghani, was forced to move to Qalainau with his family due to poverty and hunger in Allahyar district of Ghor province. Ghani and his family rely on aid. “I can’t work because of my illness and age. I don’t have a son, either” he says. They also closed institutions. Who else would help us?”
With the arrival of the cold season, displaced people in Badghis warn that the help provided by around 20 non-governmental relief organizations, such as the World Food Programme, is essential in forestalling a humanitarian disaster. Local sources report that these organizations distribute food, cash, tents, blankets, and other materials to displaced families and poor households in the city and the surrounding districts.
The Taliban order for those organizations to stop work in Badghis follows a similar order in Ghor, where around a similar number of relief organizations were also ordered to cease their activities.
