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Shocking report lays bare humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan after Biden’s catastrophic withdrawal

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The graphs show decreased quality of life factors, including poverty and loss of access to healthcare, following the Taliban's resurgence in 2021.

Nearly nine in 10 Afghans are hungry and more than 80 percent have lost access to health care since the chaotic US withdrawal allowed the Taliban to return to power in 2021.

US troops were withdrawn from the country in September 2021 after 20 years of conflict, in a move universally criticized as disastrous. President Joe Biden’s approval ratings tanked and never recovered during his term.

The withdrawal saw a terrorist attack that killed 13 Americans, the fall of the Afghan government and the resurgence of the fundamentalist Taliban, plunging the country into an economic and humanitarian crisis.

All aid that the United States and its allies were providing to the country was stopped, including development aid, which covered about 78 percent of the country’s expenses. This left the country in financial ruin.

Now, a recent survey by researchers at Lawrence Technical University in the United States reported that nearly 90 percent of Afghans are hungry, 84 percent have no access to health care, and 85 percent are threatened with violence. , more than three years after the withdrawal.

In the survey, participants’ comments emphasized limited access to humanitarian aid, restrictions on freedom of expression and women’s rights, widespread malnutrition, and significant levels of unemployment.

The researchers said: “The grim conditions in the country have worsened to such an extent that almost everyone, regardless of their background, appears to be negatively affected.”

They added: “The consequences of the US military withdrawal may have been so profound that structural factors such as gender and age, which once allowed young men to prosper while women and other lower status groups faced more difficulties, appear to have lost its previous meaning.” .’

The graphs show decreased quality of life factors, including poverty and loss of access to healthcare, following the Taliban’s resurgence in 2021.

President Joe Biden, shown announcing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in April 2021, has since been heavily criticized for setting the stage for the resurgence of the Taliban and the resulting humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

President Joe Biden, shown announcing the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in April 2021, has since been heavily criticized for setting the stage for the resurgence of the Taliban and the resulting humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The survey included 800 Afghans. Almost half were between 18 and 29 years old and 94 percent were men.

The survey included multiple-choice questions related to mental and social stress, quality of life, and open-ended questions where people could elaborate on their responses.

In addition to the vast majority experiencing food insecurity, limited or no access to health care, and threats of violence, 72 percent of people said one or more loved ones had been killed or displaced since the US withdrawal.

The researchers said: ‘This research validates many of the concerns of the humanitarian crisis on the ground, as well as providing insight into how political changes have resulted in socioeconomic hardship affecting Afghans who remained in the country after the US withdrawal in 2021.’

Nearly 90 percent of Afghans are hungry, 84 percent have no access to medical care, and 85 percent are threatened with violence.

Nearly 90 percent of Afghans are hungry, 84 percent have no access to medical care, and 85 percent are threatened with violence.

Eighty-four percent had infrequent contact with family and friends, while 85 percent experienced threats of violence. Nearly 72 percent lost at least one or more family members (dead or displaced) since the American withdrawal.

Eighty-four percent had infrequent contact with family and friends, while 85 percent experienced threats of violence. Nearly 72 percent lost at least one or more family members (dead or displaced) since the American withdrawal.

Approximately nine in 10 Afghans maintain a decreased quality of life related to high levels of social and psychological stress.

The authors said: ‘Adults often suffer emotional and physical pain caused by disruptions in facing chronic poverty and violence, particularly in conflict.

‘The decrease in the conditions of social life causes a sensation of pain, which becomes part of one’s own social experience’

Stress levels are also high, with a score of 12.23 out of a possible 21. The main stressors cited were anxiety, hunger and lack of sleep, as well as threats of violence.

Stress levels are also high, with a score of 12.23 out of a possible 21. The main stressors cited were anxiety, hunger and lack of sleep, as well as threats of violence.

One respondent said: ‘The current situation in Afghanistan is disastrous and economically unusual because there are no jobs, all government jobs are in the hands of the Taliban and the private sector has no absorptive capacity.

‘The Taliban are armed in the city. They don’t know if they are thieves or responsible.’

He report was published in the journal PLOS Mental Health.

While the UN estimates that about half of Afghans live in poverty, another report says that 85 percent of Afghans live on less than a dollar a day.

120,000 people were evacuated by plane, while the rest were subject to the rapid resurgence of the Taliban.

120,000 people were evacuated by plane, while the rest were subject to the rapid resurgence of the Taliban.

Planes bound for the United States were overrun by Afghans who did not qualify as American citizens, citizens of allied countries, and Afghan supporters of allied forces, such as interpreters and contractors.

Planes bound for the United States were overrun by Afghans who did not qualify as American citizens, citizens of allied countries, and Afghan supporters of allied forces, such as interpreters and contractors.

President Biden announced in April 2021 that his administration would end “America’s longest war” by September 11, 2021, nearly 20 years after the terrorist attacks that plunged the United States into the war in the first place. , after reaching an agreement with the group in 2020. .

This promised a complete withdrawal in exchange for ceasefire commitments and preventing the country from being used by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda.

By August of that year, the government in Kabul had collapsed. Taliban fighters invaded the capital and seized the presidential palace hours after President Ghani left the country.

But according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, the deal weakened Afghan forces.

He said: “We did not foresee the snowball effect caused by the agreements that Taliban commanders made with local leaders in the wake of the Doha Agreement, that the Doha Agreement itself had a demoralizing effect on Afghan soldiers and that we were unable to understand fully that there was a lot for – and for whom – many of the Afghan forces would fight.”

To further alienate President Biden from already wary voters, 13 US service members were killed and at least 18 wounded in an attack on a checkpoint outside Kabul airport, where thousands of people were being evacuated.

The United Nations said in 2022 that the Taliban rulers, made up of factions of insurgents and hardliners, maintain a close relationship with the terrorist group al-Qaeda, which uses Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as a “friendly environment to raise money, recruit and train.’

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