ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Nearly 213,000 undocumented Afghans return from Iran and Pakistan

• Increasing violence results in approximately 2,300 civilian casualties from January to March

• USG provides nearly $62 million in humanitarian assistance to respond to acute needs across Afghanistan in FY 2018

KEY DEVELOPMENTS

• On April 29, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan John R. Bass announced an additional $36.6 million in U.S. Government (USG) funding to assist conflict- and disaster-affected populations throughout Afghanistan and Afghan refugees in the region. The contribution includes $5.6 million from USAID/OFDA, nearly $1 million from USAID/FFP, $12 million from USAID/Afghanistan, and $18 million from State/PRM, and supplements $25 million in previously announced FY 2018 funding from USAID/FFP. Cumulatively, the USG has provided nearly $276 million to respond to acute needs in Afghanistan from FY 2017–2018.

• Intensified conflict in Afghanistan continues to result in high numbers of civilian casualties, with 763 deaths and approximately 1,500 injuries recorded from January– March, the UN reports.

• Nearly 213,000 undocumented Afghans returned from Iran and Pakistan between January and April, representing an increase of nearly 50 percent compared to the same period in 2017, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Relief actors are responding to critical humanitarian needs among internally displaced persons (IDPs)—including more than 75,600 people displaced by conflict in 2018—and returnees, the UN reports.