of collapse which could send the price of basic goods soaringa un agency meanwhile warned that a worsening drought threatens the livelihoods of more than 7 million people the romebased food and agriculture organization said afghans are also suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and displacement from the recent fightingearlier this month the un world food program estimated that some 14 million people roughly one out of every three afghans urgently need food assistancethe fao said that crucial help is needed ahead of the winter wheat planting season which begins in a month in many areas so far funding would cover assistance to only 110000 families of farmers while some 15 million need help the agency said adding that the current harvest is expected to be 20 below last yearspresident joe biden has said he will adhere to a selfimposed aug 31 deadline for withdrawing all us forces the taliban who control nearly the entire country outside kabuls airport have rejected any extensionitaly said its final evacuation flight had landed in rome but that it would work with the united nations and countries bordering afghanistan to continue helping afghans who had worked with its military contingent to leave the countryour imperative must be to not abandon the afghan people especially women and children italian foreign minister luigi di maio said saturday he said 4890 afghans were evacuated by italys air force on 87 flights but did not say how many others were still eligiblethe taliban have encouraged afghans to stay in the country pledging amnesty even to those who fought against them they have said commercial flights will resume after the us withdrawal but its unclear if airlines will be willing to offer servicethe us and its allies have said they will continue providing humanitarian aid through the un and other partners but any broader engagement including development assistance is likely to hinge on whether the taliban deliver on their promises of more moderate rulewhen the taliban last governed afghanistan from 1996 until the usled invasion in 2001 they imposed a harsh interpretation of islamic law women were largely confined to their homes television and music were banned and suspected criminals were maimed or executed in publicthis time the taliban say women will be allowed to attend school and work outside the home they have been negotiating with senior afghan officials from previous governments and say they want an inclusive islamic governmentbut even as the groups top leadership has struck a more moderate tone there have been reports of human rights abuses in areas under taliban control its unclear whether fighters are acting under orders or on their owntaliban fighters beat up a cameraman for the private broadcaster tolo tv earlier this week in kabul saad mohseni the ceo of the group that owns the channel said the taliban have been in touch with the stations management about the incident he said the fighter has been identified but its unclear if he has faced any disciplinary action there was no comment