UN chief urges major Afghan aid increase, unfreezing assets

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the world’s nations to greatly boost humanitarian aid for millions of Afghans now living in “a frozen hell.” He also is calling for the release of nearly $9 billion in frozen assets to pull Afghanistan’s economy back from the brink of collapse, which could lead to masses of people fleeing the country. He told the Security Council on Wednesday that “without action, lives will be lost.” Guterres says liquidity must be urgently restored to the Afghan economy.  U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield says the Biden administration is examining “various options to ease the liquidity crunch.”