Acting Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar on Jan 7 made a direct appeal for help for Afghanistan, in a video briefing. “In various places right now, people do not have food, accommodation, warm clothes or money…. The world has to support Afghan people without any political bias and carry out their humanitarian obligations.” He said that the snow has fallen over most of central and northern Afghanistan, which has worsened the already “sensitive situation” of the people. “We call for the international community, NGOs and all the countries not to forget our poor people.” Baradar said the Taliban would gladly work to distribute any aid that can be provided.
He spoke amidst significant snow and cold in Kabul, which shut down many businesses. Part of the same storm in neighboring northern Pakistan killed at least 22 people, amid thousands of tourists stuck in their cars in sub-zero temperatures overnight coming from the winter resort of Murree, some 20-odd miles north of Islamabad.
The day before the Kabul appeal, the OIC Secretary General Hissein Ibrahim Taha issued a statement on aid. Radio Pakistan reported yesterday, “The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has called for enhanced Islamic solidarity in humanitarian aid for disaster and conflict-hit populations in the Muslim World.
