Donors Pledge $2.44 Billion in Aid to Hunger-Stricken Afghanistan

KABUL—Foreign donors pledged billions in aid to Afghanistan on Thursday to alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the country that has rapidly escalated since the Taliban takeover in August and the subsequent collapse of the economy.

Forty-one countries and organizations committed $2.44 billion in humanitarian aid that will be used to support to 22.1 million Afghans, more than half the population, which according to the United Nations is facing “immediate and catastrophic levels of need.”