Afghanistan: Weekly Humanitarian Update (28 October - 3 November 2019)

South: Conflict continued in Zabul, six health facilities reopened in Nimroz

Intense conflict continued between a non-state armed group (NSAG) and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in surrounding villages of Shah Joi district in Zabul province. A roadside improvised explosive device (IED) killed three civilians and injured three others in a vehicle in Mizan district in Zabul.
Uruzgan province also experienced a deterioration of security due to ANSF military operations in Tirinkot and Gizab districts and NSAG attacks. Multiple IEDs were planted in several localities and targeted attacks carried in Spin Boldak and Kandahar city. An IED planted in the Wesh Bazar area reportedly injured seven civilians.

On 15 October, all six health facilities in Nimroz that had been closed for nearly seven weeks were reopened with the help of community intervention in Dilaram and Khashrod districts. The health facilities provided services to approximately 80,000 people. Food, core relief items and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) were provided to 441 people displaced by conflict in Qalat,
Zabul. Interagency assessments are planned in the coming days to assess internally displaced persons (IDPs) displaced by conflict in Zabul and Nimroz provinces.

East: Up to 4,200 people displaced by clashes at the border

Tensions remained high in the Kunar border areas following fighting reported near the border with Pakistan on 27 and 28 October which resulted in the displacements of an estimated 3,500 to 4,200 people. Interagency needs assessments and response to people in need are ongoing. Some villages were reportedly deserted after civilians fled the violence.

In the east, 6,559 internally displaced people and returnees were reached with cash, food rations, WASH, health services and relief items such as items for winter. 4,684 returnees, IDPs and host communities were reached with emergency outpatient health services. This week, a total of 5,640 children were vaccinated for polio and measles.

Northeast: 20,552 assisted despite access challenges in many areas

During the reporting period, 20,552 people received humanitarian assistances in Takhar, Badakhshan, and Kunduz provinces while 1,155 people displaced by conflict were identified as in need of assistance in Takhar, Badakhshan, Kunduz, and Baghlan provinces. Reports from local authorities indicate that over 500 families (approximately 3,500 people) have been displaced due to recent hostilities in Baghlan. Overall, across the northeast, the deterioration of security has negatively affected humanitarian access to hard-to-reach areas to assess new IDPs displaced by conflict. Humanitarian agencies have been prepositioning and replenishing their stockpiles of foods and relief items as part of the winterization contingency planning.

North: Fighting continued in Faryab displacing 300 people

Fighting between ANSF and a NSAG and airstrikes continued to affect civilians in Faryab. Reports indicated that more than 300 people were displaced from the Chaqmaq area in Pashtun Kot district to Maymana city. Interagency teams have been assessing the needs of the newly displaced.
Inter-agency teams verified 5,432 IDPs in Faryab, Jawzjan, Sar-e-Pul and Balkh provinces as being in need of assistance. During the reporting period, 2,280 IDPs displaced by conflict received humanitarian assistance in Faryab, Balkh and Jawzjan provinces.

West: distribution of aid interrupted in Farah

In Farah, the distribution of food was interrupted for several days, though during the reporting period over 800 people in Farah City and Farah province displaced by conflict received food or cash for food. Furthermore, the distribution of relief items has also been interrupted, though some distributions were able to take place. WASH was also provided in Farah City and relief items including hygiene kits for women have been prepositioned for distribution in the coming days. Negotiations have been ongoing to resume distribution of relief items to 757 people in need in Farah. On 28 October, a Body-Borne Improvised Explosive Device was detonated in Hirat city reportedly killing one civilian and injuring seven others. Food items have been procured to respond to 300 families (approximately 2,100 people) trapped in Jawand district due to the presence of landmines. Some 1,100 flood affected families (approximately 7,700 people) were assisted with food in Bala Murghab district. 200 people received food, WASH, and relief items including hygiene kits for women in Badghis province.

Centre: IDPs provided with aid, but many more identified as in need

On 29 and 31 October, 385 IDPs in Kabul and Kapisa provinces were provided with WASH and cash for food and relief items. The IDPs in Kabul arrived in September 2019 from insecure districts in Kunduz, Baghlan, Nangarhar and Ghazni provinces and the IDPs in Kapisa fled from other insecure districts to Mahmood-e-Raqi (capital), Hisae-Awal-e-Kohistan and Hisa-e-Duwum-e-Kohistan districts from August to October of 2019. To date, 10,094 people have been identified as in need of winter assistance in Paktya, Khost, Logar, Bamyan, and Daykundi provinces.
Assessments are ongoing.

Local authorities in Logar reported the arrival of around 130 IDP families in the last week of October from insecure areas in Khoshi, Charkh and Baraki Barak districts to Logar centre, Pul-e-Alam district. In the past months, over 2,700 displaced people arrived in Kabul and Parwan provinces after fleeing conflict, with need assessment expected to begin in the coming days. Interagency teams started needs assessment on 27 October for some 234 families in Khost displaced by conflict in Sabari, Terezayi, Nadir Shah Kot districts and Paktika province. 242 people in Maidan Wardak displaced by conflict in the beginning of October from Nerkh, Jalrez, Saydabad and insecure villages of centre district to Maydan Shahr city were identified as being in need of aid and will be provided with hygiene kits and cash for food and relief items in the coming days.