More than 700 humanitarian aid trucks enter Afghanistan from Pakistan

In recent days, over seven hundred trucks laden with international humanitarian aid have crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan, according to the United Nations. The trucks, carrying essential supplies like food, breached a border that had been largely sealed off following violent clashes in October. Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Afghanistan, confirmed the influx of the trucks to AFP.

Mo Yahya, the United Nations Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator for Pakistan, praised the achievement on X, stating that the humanitarian lifeline had been maintained "thanks to Islamabad and all those who made it possible."

The situation in Afghanistan has grown dire, with acute child malnutrition reaching alarming levels this year, as the World Food Programme (WFP) warned early in August. Compounding the crisis, devastating earthquakes in the previous year, along with climate-related disasters, have left nearly fourteen million Afghans facing extreme hunger, the WFP reported.

The ongoing conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has resulted in a near-total closure of their land border since October 2025, has severely hampered the delivery of humanitarian aid. Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the WFP, noted that previous efforts, such as fortified biscuits intended for Afghan schoolchildren, had to be rerouted through Iran due to the disrupted routes.

Despite these challenges, the recent delivery of trucks from Pakistan represents a glimmer of hope, albeit a temporary one. The biscuits, for instance, only managed to reach Afghanistan after a lengthy journey that included stops in Jordan, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, before finally arriving months later via land and sea. The resilience of these humanitarian aid efforts underscores the critical importance of maintaining open supply routes to support those in dire need.