The Latest: Pakistan says Afghanistan in crisis helps no one

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ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s overseas curate says it is the corporate work of the planetary assemblage to assistance Afghanistan to avert a humanitarian crisis.

In a connection Friday, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that contempt having constricted resources, Pakistan a time earlier sent a level carrying nutrient and medicines to Kabul. Qureshi said much specified assistance volition beryllium dispatched to Afghanistan via onshore routes.

Qureshi made his comments up of the sojourn of his Spanish counterpart, José Manuel Albares, who was expected to get successful the capital, Islamabad, aboriginal Friday, for talks connected Afghanistan.

Qureshi said that a humanitarian situation successful Afghanistan wouldn't beryllium anyone's involvement — successful the portion oregon successful the world.

Pakistan wants the planetary assemblage to unfreeze Afghanistan’s assets to alteration Kabul usage its ain wealth to avert a worsening humanitarian crisis.

The Taliban authorities presently does not person entree to the Afghanistan cardinal bank’s $9 cardinal successful reserves, astir of which is held by the New York Federal Reserve. These reserves were blocked amid past month’s governmental turmoil successful Afghanistan.

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MORE ON AFGHANISTAN:

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— Find much AP sum astatine https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan

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UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations improvement bureau says Afghanistan is teetering connected the brink of “universal poverty” which could go a world successful the mediate of adjacent twelvemonth unless urgent efforts are made to bolster section communities and their economies.

It said the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has enactment 20 years of dependable economical gains astatine risk.

The U.N. Development Program outlined 4 scenarios for Afghanistan pursuing the Taliban’s Aug. 15 presumption of powerfulness that foretell the country’s GDP volition diminution betwixt 3.6% and 13.2% successful the adjacent fiscal twelvemonth starting successful June 2022, depending connected the strength of the situation and however overmuch the satellite engages with the Taliban. That is successful crisp opposition to the expected 4% maturation successful GDP earlier the autumn of the government.

“Afghanistan beauteous overmuch faces cosmopolitan poorness by the mediate of adjacent year,” Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Director, told a quality league Thursday launching its 28-page assessment. “That’s wherever we’re heading -- it’s 97-98% (poverty rate) nary substance however you enactment these projections.”

Currently, the poorness complaint is 72% and Wignaraja pointed to galore improvement gains aft the Taliban were ousted from powerfulness successful 2001: Per capita income much than doubled successful the past 20 years, beingness expectancy astatine commencement was extended by astir 9 years, the fig of years of schooling roseate from six to 10, “and we got women into university.”

But she said Afghanistan present faces “a humanitarian and improvement disaster” resulting from governmental instability, frozen overseas reserves, a collapsed nationalist concern system, “a crush connected section banking due to the fact that of this,” arsenic good arsenic the interaction of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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UNITED NATIONS — The United States has a connection for the Taliban: If it lives up to each its commitments, brings greater stableness to Afghanistan and the region, demonstrates wide inclusion, and protects the gains of the past 20 years “we’ll enactment with it.”

But U.S. lawman ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who delivered the connection astatine a U.N. Security Council gathering connected Thursday, stressed that “any legitimacy and enactment volition person to beryllium earned.”

He said the standards the planetary assemblage has acceptable are wide and see facilitating harmless transition for Afghans and overseas nationals who privation to permission Afghanistan and respecting the country’s obligations nether planetary humanitarian instrumentality “including those related to the extortion of civilians.”

“We’re watching intimately to spot that those standards are met,” helium said.

DeLaurentis told the assembly that pursuing the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan needs the United Nations and the U.N. governmental ngo successful the state “more than ever.”

He said “the United States remains committed to the radical of Afghanistan,” and arsenic the country’s largest humanitarian donor it is helping partners connected the crushed supply assistance, “but the needs are vast.”

With the diplomatic footprint successful the state reduced, DeLaurentis said, “the U.N. has a vitally important relation to play” not lone successful coordinating assistance but successful preventing quality rights violations and abuses and pursuing accountability for those that person occurred, and successful protecting children and civilians.

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