Springtime in Kunduz, north eastern Afghanistan has been tragically filled with conflict and suffering, leading to an extraordinary displacement of more than 22,400 people.
Fleeing for their lives, 14, 000 people were forced from Kunduz city to remote areas where the conflict is most active.
The insecure environment and access constraints created severe challenges in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. How the conflict ensued paving the road to inaccessibility.
In the early hours of 15 April, the non-state armed actors (NSAA) launched a spring offensive code named “Omari,” followed by a counter offensive set by Afghan National Security forces supported by international military, code named “Shafaq.”
When the NSAA launched the counter offensive surrounding Kunduz city in March, 7,000 people were displaced. IEDs exploded causing wide-spread destruction.
Families were forced to flee and seek safety with family members and neighbours who opened their doors to offer a haven in the midst of chaos.
When we conducted the initial needs assessments, as many as six families were living in one house,” reported Syed Zaheer, OCHA Humanitarian Affairs Officer, who helped lead the joint assessment mission.
The security situation in Kunduz province continued to rapidly deteriorate.
Clashes intensified.
Displacements swelled and families were on the move yet again. Heavy artillery were used by ANA, and airstrikes by the ANSF and IMF. The NSAA attacked ANSF checkpoints in areas of southwest. Civilians were caught in the cross-fire. Lives were lost. Livelihoods and property were destroyed.
Humanitarian agencies prioritised urgent humanitarian assistance to the 7,000 displaced people, however in many cases one of the biggest challenges is access to reaching the most vulnerable families in need.
The conflict escalated causing more distress for the families in Kunduz, on the morning of 16 April, when NSAA attacked the Afghan Local Police checkpoints in the south-east of Kunduz in Rostaqabad and Nasiri ha Area, Tapeh-e Murch areas.
The Kunduz to Takhar (Taloqan) road was temporarily blocked. The road closure constricted the movement of people to reach schools, health care centres and market places.
As the battled raged on for territorial control in all seven districts of Kunduz province, families were further displaced to more remote and insecure areas where humanitarian agencies continue to struggle to gain access.
Although physical access to displaced families remains a challenge due to IEDs, military operations and road closures, humanitarian agencies managed to deliver much needed food, nutritional support, emergency shelter, non-food items (NFIs) and health care.
“The displaced families in Kunduz have endured repeated suffering–-some displaced two and three times–raising their vulnerability,” explained OCHA Head of Sub-Office, Gift Chatora.
“We have seen the detrimental consequences when displaced families are inaccessible to humanitarian assistance, children miss out on education, nutrition and basic health care while parents lose their livelihoods and means to provide for their families.”
Living in fear and forced to flee their home in the southern province of Uruzgan, Mr. Habibullah and his family are one of more than 10,500 people, who were displaced to Dehrawud District due to continued conflict.
A blockage along the main road from Kandahar to TirinKot to Dehrawud severely hindered access to the displaced families leaving them stranded without much needed humanitarian assistance for weeks.
Humanitarian needs assessments conducted by the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and NGOs, including Humanitarian Action for People of Afghanistan, APA and ZOA Refugee Care revealed that the fighting had displaced 10,500 people and identified urgent health concerns, water, food and sanitation issues, along with poor conditions of shelter and accommodation in the area.
Since being displaced, these affected families have been living in precarious conditions, and in desperate need of humanitarian assistance, yet remained cut off due to the main road closure. This route is essential for WFP to provide food support to people in Uruzgan.
Though great efforts were made to make the road passable, even now there are still stretches of road that are too dangerous to travel on. Due to the road closure and ongoing conflict, humanitarian agencies are so far unable to return to Dehrawud to conduct a new needs assessment.
Informal reports suggests that the majority of families have returned to their places of origin. In one case, Mr. Habibullah, on return to his home, found his house damaged.
Despite Dehrawud being temporarily inaccessible, WFP continues to work in other areas of Uruzgan province, carrying out nutrition programmes for pregnant women, new mothers and children under the age of five. WFP also provides school meals and food assistance to economically distressed populations.
The displaced families and WFP are still waiting for the vital Kandahar to Tarinkot to Dehrawud roads to reopen, in order to get food through to the people who need it most.
The main humanitarian story of the year is the very large number of people fleeing from their homes to save their lives. At the time of writing over 118,000 people have fled their homes in the first four months of this year – an average of nearly one thousand people each day. Are we delivering emergency assistance to the people who most need our help and getting it into the most pressing geographic areas in 2016?
Have enough relief items been delivered to those mostly recently displaced in Kunduz, Uruzugan, and Herat?
Yet thousands of families have fled their homes in the past weeks in fear for their lives in Kunduz province, in Shindand in Herat and in Dehrawud in Uruzugan. Despite valiant efforts by some aid agencies, no assistance has reached the conflict displaced in Dehrawoud or Shindand districts, and no relief organization has delivered NFIs to the districts outside of Kunduz city.
—Excerpts from OCHA Humanitarian Bulletin
Afghanistan, Issue 51 | 01 – 30 April 2016