Prices of water bottles, rice plates soar at Kabul Airport

Kabul: The prices of food products at Kabul Airport saw over-the-top increases as citizens from around the world continue to evacuate from Afghanistan.

Reuters quoted an Afghan national Fazl-ur-Rehman who claimed that the price of each water bottle and plate of rice is being sold at $40 and $100 respectively.

He said that people cannot afford food at such exuberant costs.

Another Afghan national cited overcrowding at the airport as an excuse.

Afghan Fazl-ur-Rehman said food and water were sold at exorbitant prices at Kabul airport. ‘One bottle of water is selling for $40 and plate of rice for $100, and not Afghani (currency) but dollars. That is out of reach for common people,’ he said https://t.co/KczQEMm2nB pic.twitter.com/UBmaAQumXP

— Reuters (@Reuters) August 25, 2021

A report by The Guardian stated that World Food Programme (WFP) feared that the country may run out of food by September.

Andrew Patterson, the food organization’s deputy country director in Afghanistan, mentioned that they sending food through different crossings, that include Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at the moment.

“Winter is coming,” he said as quoted by The Guardian. “We are going into the lean season and many Afghan roads will be covered in snow. We need to get the food into our warehouses where it needs to be distributed.”

He added: “We’ve got 20,000 metric tonnes of food in the country now, we’ve got 7,000 metric tonnes on the way.”

WHO had earlier said that airport closure had affected its deliveries.

Afghanistan is undergoing a political and social transformation since Kabul came under the Taliban’s control.

The country’s Acting President Amrullah Saleh blamed the insurgents for not allowing food supplies into Andrab Valley.

Talibs aren’t allowing food & fuel to get into Andarab valley. The humanitarian situation is dire. Thousands of women & children have fled to mountains. Since the last two days Talibs abduct children & elderly and use them as shields to move around or do house search.

— Amrullah Saleh (@AmrullahSaleh2) August 23, 2021

“Talibs aren’t allowing food and fuel to get into Andarab valley, he tweeted. “The humanitarian situation is dire. Thousands of women and children have fled to the mountains.”

He accused the organization for abducting children, elderly people for using them as human shields.