United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan on Wednesday that "first and most urgently, [the international community] needs to scale-up humanitarian operations to save lives," warning that six months after the takeover by the Taliban, "Afghanistan is hanging by a thread."

"We need to suspend the rules and conditions that constrict not only Afghanistan's economy, but our lifesaving operations," Guterres said. "At this moment of maximum need, these rules must be seriously reviewed."