Support and Protect Families in Afghanistan

In Helmand Province, Afghanistan, Daud lives with his family of 12 in Belandhawa village.

In 2020, this family’s hometown became a frontline combat zone when former Afghan Army forces arrived to defend the provincial capital. Intense fighting forced them and several other families to flee the village.

A year later, Daud and other Belandhawa residents came back, hoping to resume the lives they had left behind. What they returned to, however, was far from welcoming. Their land and homes were full of explosives left behind by the conflict, and accidents in the village caused the death of several community members and injuries to many others.

“My house, including four rooms, was damaged during the conflict. Our farmland was also contaminated with mines,” Daud recalled.

“When I came back, we had to request demining support—our house was heavily contaminated."

In October 2024, The HALO Trust answered this request. After months of work, 10 demining teams had cleared roughly 61 acres – or about 46 football fields – of land by April 2025. In that time, they also safely destroyed 36 improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

“HALO cleared my house and even found an IED inside. They also cleared other houses and roads in our area,” Daud said.

Today, the community is thriving on the cleared land.

In the village’s residential areas, homes are being repaired and reconstructed. In the village’s public spaces where people were once too afraid to step foot, children now gather every day to play sports.

Many families in Belandhawa rely on farming, including Daud's. Now, they are once again growing crops on their land without fear of what lays beneath the soil. 

"Now we live without fear, and our children can play safely again," he said.

Restoration and revival like this would not be possible without HALO’s community of support. Thank you for your commitment to a safer world.

Just before midnight on Sunday, August 31^st in Afghanistan’s Kunar, Nuristan, Panjshir, and Nangarhar provinces, a 6.0 magnitude earthquake brought homes, schools, and hospitals crumbling to the ground. Five aftershocks then rippled through the region, followed by another earthquake on Tuesday evening.

These shocks have now killed, injured, and displaced thousands of people. Rather than sleeping in the safety of their homes, families are now sleeping outdoors, fearful that another tremor will suddenly collapse their shelter and trap them beneath the rubble.

The HALO Trust has not hesitated to jump into action with medical and evacuation support. Within 24 hours, our Quick Response teams rescued seven people, including two children, in critical condition. Equipped with vehicles that can be outfitted as ambulances, years of experience responding to natural disasters, and relationships with critical authorities, HALO teams are now hard at work on the ground in Afghanistan providing medical support and evacuations.

As our colleagues comb the rubble and care for the injured, they are facing many challenges. Heavy rains before the initial earthquake left many roads almost completely impassable, and once the shocks hit, it became even harder for survivors, supplies, or medical personnel to get in or out. This is Afghanistan’s third earthquake in three years, and resources are stretched thin for the millions of people already facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

While many international organizations have left Afghanistan, HALO is still here. And we are fiercely determined to help as many people as we can. With your support, we can evacuate survivors, support hospitals, and reach communities.

Links:

• Hear from Dr. Farid, HALO Afghanistan Country Director