Around 100,000 Cut Off From Aid in Nuristan Province, U.N. Says

Around 100,000 people in the Nuristan districts of Barg-e-Matal and Kamdesh have been cut off from humanitarian assistance despite a relative drop in fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said on Monday. The warning highlights how even reduced violence along the frontier is still disrupting civilian access to food, medicine and emergency relief.

OCHA said access to the two districts is technically possible through a road running from Nari district in Kunar province, but the route has become unusable for civilians and aid groups because of firing from across the border. Local Taliban officials in Nuristan had earlier confirmed shooting along the same corridor, reinforcing concerns that insecurity is still choking off one of the few viable lifelines into the remote mountain region.

The U.N. agency warned that with roads into Nuristan effectively blocked, residents are struggling to reach markets and health services and are facing severe shortages of food and medical supplies. The situation is especially alarming because Barg-e-Matal and Kamdesh are among the country’s most isolated districts, where communities often depend on a small number of fragile supply routes even in more stable periods.

Residents and tribal elders from both districts had earlier told Afghan media that their access to the provincial centre had been cut for about a month because of Pakistani firing, and that essential food stocks were already running out. Some warned that if the situation continues and no practical response is delivered, communities may be forced to seek assistance from across the border simply to survive.

Local authorities in Nuristan said last week that work was under way to open alternative routes for movement and aid deliveries, though it remains unclear how quickly those routes can become operational in difficult terrain and under unstable security conditions. Aid groups have repeatedly warned that delays in restoring access could quickly deepen hunger and medical risks for families already living on the edge.

The humanitarian disruption comes as Afghanistan and Pakistan continue China-mediated talks aimed at easing the most serious cross-border conflict between the two sides in years. While both sides have signaled support for dialogue, repeated flare-ups and intermittent shelling have continued to affect civilians in eastern Afghan border provinces, including Kunar and Nuristan.

The U.N. warning from Nuristan shows that even when front-line violence eases, its humanitarian effects can linger long after the guns quiet down. Unless safe access is restored soon, remote communities in Barg-e-Matal and Kamdesh may face a worsening emergency driven not only by conflict, but by isolation itself.

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