The world's largest organisation of Muslim nations held an extraordinary session in Saudi Arabia Sunday to discuss the Afghanistan situation, with calls for it not to be turned into a "hub for terrorism." Yousef al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the 57-nation Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), pointed to the escalating humanitarian needs in Afghanistan and noted that "reconciliation is the key to bringing peace." He urged for Afghanistan not to be used "as a haven for terrorism again." Read: Chaos as thousands flee Afghanistan after Taliban takeover Representatives of the OIC met at the body's headquarters in the Red Sea city of Jeddah after Saudi Arabia called for the meeting. The kingdom's representative to the OIC reiterated Saudi support for a comprehensive peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and called on the Taliban and all parties to maintain security. After the US announced it was withdrawing troops from Afghanistan and wrapping up its military operations, the Taliban launched a rapid offensive on government forces, entering Kabul without a fight just a week ago. Read: UNHCR issues non-return advisory for Afghanistan The Taliban's lightning takeover has sparked a hurried exodus of people associated with the Western intervention in the country. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country; the Western nations have struggled to ramp up the pace of evacuations.

The situation across Afghanistan remained extremely fluid and bolstered support for the humanitarian response inside the country was urgently needed, according to the UN officials. While widespread fighting had decreased since the takeover of the country by the Taliban on August 15, the full impact of the evolving situation was not yet clear, Shabia Mantoo, the spokesperson for the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said at a press briefing Friday. The vast majority of Afghans were not able to leave the country through regular channels, Shabia said. At least 550,000 people had been forcibly displaced inside Afghanistan this year, but there were also 2.9 million internally displaced persons from prior crises and 2.6 million Afghans who had fled worldwide over the past decades, she added. Read: Chaos as thousands flee Afghanistan after Taliban takeover At the start of 2021, half the population of Afghanistan, including more than 4 million women and nearly 10 million children, already needed humanitarian assistance, Tarik Jasarevic, the spokesperson for the World Health Organization, said. "One-third of the population was facing acute food insecurity, and more than half of all children under five years of age were malnourished. The current drought was expected to elevate those figures," he said. Read: UNHCR issues non-return advisory for Afghanistan However, most major health facilities in Afghanistan were functional, and health workers had been called to return to or remain at their posts, including female health staff, according to Tarik.