Displaced persons a growing worry for Afghans

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

As violence rages in Afghanistan amid a Taliban offensive in various parts of the country, concern has been increasing over the numbers of Afghans being displaced.

The U.N.'s Special Rapporteur for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Chaloka Beyani met with victims in the Kabul, Herat and Balkh provinces and warned at a press conference on Thursday that there could be far more IDPs by the end of the year.

"Yet attention and resources allocated to their needs seem to be waning rather than increasing in line with the growing challenges and need for durable solutions," he said.

Last month's figures compiled from the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), suggest more than 323,000 Afghans were displaced in the first 10 months of this year and requested $150 million in aid for them, a call Beyani reiterated.

Hundreds of Journalists on the run

Nai, a leading press freedom organization, revealed Monday journalists have not been immune to the crisis. Nai's Media Watch Director Sidiqullah Tawhidi said as many as 200 journalists had to flee their homes in Helmand and Kunduz.

Tawhidi said Nai has registered at least 50 cases of violence against journalists so far this year and said the killing of a local reporter in Zabul province last Sunday was a reminder of the dangers facing journalists.

Unknown gunmen shot dead Yaqoob Sharafat, a reporter for the state-run Radio Television Afghanistan, making him the second from the channel to be killed this year.

Sifatullah Zahidi, a local radio journalist based in the restive Helmand province told Anadolu Agency he is constantly aware of the danger.

“I am based in [Helmand's capital] Lashkargah but I do not feel safe at all. I can hear gunshots and shelling day and night from my home, fighting is going on only a few miles away from my home. Many of my friends and colleagues are in a worse situation,” he said.

Afghan media rights groups have advised journalists in dangerous areas to temporarily move to safer cities.