By Mashal Afghan 

KABUL (TSAT) - The International Rescue Committee (IRC) warned that starvation could kill more Afghan than last 20 year war as the country's 97% population currently facing poverty.

In a recent statement, the IRC said that After Taliban took over the country in mid-August last year, humanitarian crisis erupted and its expected that 97% people in the country will push belowe the poverty line till the second half of this year.

 "The IRC is calling for an urgent policy reset: leaders in the US and Europe must address the economic crisis to enable ordinary Afghans to meet their basic needs," the international recuse organization said.

"As the freezing winter conditions worsen, millions of families are finding themselves in desperate circumstances. Almost 23 million Afghans - more than half of the country’s population - are facing acute food insecurity. One million children are at risk of the most severe form of malnutrition. Unaddressed, the current humanitarian crisis could lead to more deaths than twenty years of war."

Vicki Aken, IRC Afghanistan Director, said, his organization works in many conflict region but never saw such situation emerged in the war-torn country.

“This economic crisis is contributing to a catastrophic humanitarian emergency that has left a quarter of the population facing the risk of famine - the largest population experiencing such extreme levels of hunger in the world,” said Aken.

“ Afghan families are being forced into more and more desperate measures of survival. Mothers and their children are sitting in snowfall, begging for money; parents are forced to sell their daughters into early marriage to bring cash for their families,” its said.

The international organization lamented on the current situation and said the landlocked country is moving towards catastrophe which is primarily driven by the policies of the international community, rather than conflict or natural disaster.

“For millions of Afghans, survival depends on their ability to access humanitarian aid, but humanitarian aid cannot replace the functions of the state.”

“Drastic cuts in aid have been compounded by the freezing of Afghan assets and confusion around international sanctions that are driving a financial crisis that reaches into every corner of Afghan life. Ordinary Afghans need more than aid - they need a functional banking system and economy so that businesses can withdraw cash to pay their employees, people can earn a living, pay for food at markets and support their families,” said Aken.

As the US government and other western countries frozen over $9 billion of Afghan central bank assets in their country in August last year that pushed Afghanistan into huge economic crisis.

Last week, the US President Joe Biden announced to release $3.5 billion out of $7 billion Afghan frozen funds which will provide under a mechanism to not reach in the hands of Taliban, who are currently ruling on the country.

While the remaining $3.5 billion will still stay in the US as the 9/11 victim families had already filed a case against the Taliban and if the court decided that amount could distribute among them.

However, later the US officials said that Biden decision misinterpreted by Media and $3.5 billion funds will go back to Afghan central bank.

However, Afghan people and several countries including China and Pakistan called the decision as based on injustice because the frozen funds belong to Afghan people and Biden couldn’t forcefully snatched of 40 million Afghan people to distribute among the American citizens.

“Right now, every day Afghans are being punished by international policies that are leaving millions on the brink of starvation. The next six months necessitate an improvement, and the power to ensure it happens lies in the hands of the international community, The cost of failure is too high,” ” said the IRC Director.

IRC is among those organizations working in Afghanistan from last four decades and helping Afghan people in different sectors.