UN chief urges countries to help Afghans in “hour of need”

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief is urging all nations to help the people of Afghanistan “in their darkest hour of need.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that almost half the Afghan population — 18 million people — needs humanitarian assistance to survive, and the country faces the threat of basic services collapsing completely. In a statement on the first day of Taliban rule after the last U.S. forces left Afghanistan, Guterres warned of a looming “humanitarian catastrophe” in which one in three Afghans don’t know where their next meal will come from and half the children under age 5 are expected to become “acutely malnourished.”