Afghanistan Weekly Field Report (4 - 10 December 2017) [EN/Dari/PS]

Countrywide Conflict Displacement

From 1 January to 10 December 2017, a total of 390,940 people were displaced due to conflict in Afghanistan, up by 18,000 people compared to the previous week. The number of IDPs in the Eastern Region has reached nearly 110,000 with more than 93,000 of them in Nangarhar Province. The provinces following are Kunduz with 35,000 and Badghis with some 26,000 IDPs.

Central Region: Fierce armed clashes in Andar district, Ghazni, between ANSF and NSAG reportedly have displaced some 3,500 people within the district and 2,800 to Ghazni centre. In 2017, nearly 21,000 people were verified as displaced in the Central and Capital regions, five per cent of the total displacement.

Northern/North Eastern: According to initial, unverified reports from the ground, more than 10,000 people have been displaced in the past week to Kunduz City from Dasht-e-Archi, Emamsaheb and Khanabad districts due to intensified military operations in the area. Nearly 3,400 people have been displaced to Sar-e-Pul City from Sayad and Kohestanat districts and insecure areas of the city. This year, more than 121,000 IDPs have been verified in the two regions, 31 per cent of this year’s total displacement.

Eastern: Nearly 1,500 displaced people arrived from Alingar, Laghman, in Mehtarlam in the past week, according to humanitarian partners. These displacements were mainly caused by active fighting between armed groups, threats and intimidation. Since January, 121,525 people have been displaced in the Eastern Region, 31 per cent of the displacements across the country in 2017.

Southern/South Eastern: No significant displacements have been reported in the past week. Smaller scale armed conflict is ongoing, however without causing displacements. Some 73,000 people are currently displaced in the two southern regions, 19 per cent of the total displacements in 2017.

Western: The situation in the Western Region has been calm in the past week with no reports of significant displacements. More than 66,000 people were displaced in the Western Region in 2017, 17 per cent of the total displacements this year across the country.

Returnees and Refugees

From 3 to 9 December, 426 people spontaneously returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan and another 31 were deported, according to IOM. From Iran, 5,439 people returned spontaneously and 4,684 were deported. This year, 96,807 people have returned from Pakistan and 428,054 from Iran.

During the same reporting period, 63 refugees returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and 15 from Iran, according to UNHCR. This year, a total of 58,735 refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan, Iran and other countries.

Ongoing Response Activities

During the past week, more than 110,000 displaced people, undocumented returnees, refugees and host families received some form of humanitarian assistance including winterisation support across the country.

CR: In Ghazni Province, ANDMA and authorities provided food and NFIs to nearly 3,500 recently displaced people. In Paktika, WFP assisted 2,450 refugees from Pakistan with NFI winterization kits. UNHCR distributed cash for heating fuel to more than 3,300 families in Logar, Kapisa, Panjshir, Parwan and Wardak provinces. In Kabul, CARE distributed cash for heating, food and winter NFIs to 125 displaced families.

NR/NER: In total, more than 5,700 conflict displaced people received humanitarian aid in Faryab, Jawzjan and Kunduz provinces across different sectors of assistance: ACTED distributed multi-purpose cash, WFP food, ARCS, SCI and UNHCR emergency household items, UNICEF hygiene kits and DACAAR WASH packages.

ER: DACAAR continued water trucking for 249 displaced families from Khogyani living in the open in the district centre and installed 33 emergency latrines. UNHCR distributed NFIs and blankets to more than 760 IDPs from Khogyani,
Nangarhar, and UNICEF provided winter kits, hygiene kits and blankets to 1,200 people in the same district as well as from two districts in Kunar Province. WFP distributed food to more than 5,700 IDPs from Khogyani in Surkhrod and more than 1,200 undocumented returnees received in-kind food from WFP and nearly 10,000 received cash for food in Nangarhar,
Kunar and Laghman provinces. NRC, PU-AMI and OHW distributed cash to more than 900 IDPs. Health Cluster partners provided outpatient services to more than 7,600 returnees and displaced people and vaccinated 100 children.

SR: More than 2,300 displaced people in Greshk in Nahr-eSaraj district, Hilmand, received cash for food from WFP, NFI kits from UNHCR and hygiene and WASH kits from UNICEF.

WR: DRC-DDG distributed multi-purpose cash assistance to more than 400 displaced people in Farah City, Farah, and ES/NFI Cluster partners provided them with emergency household items.
The families had been displaced in Farah and Kunduz provinces.

Winterisation assistance

In the past week, UNHCR and partners of the Emergency Shelter/NFI Cluster (ES/NFI) distributed US$200 for heating fuel for three months to more than 10,000 families across the country. In total, more than 31,000 families have received winterisation support this year and UNHCR distributed some 95,000 blankets and 13,000 sets of clothing. An estimated 78,000 families are in need of humanitarian aid to get through the coming winter months.

For the week of 3 to 9 December, under its seasonal support programme, WFP dispatched 403 metric tons of fortified wheat flour and other food commodities for 47,000 women, men, boys and girls in the central, eastern and southern regions.