The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have issued a statement on the events in Afghanistan.

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan

Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan

Prince Harry, 36 - who spent 10 years in the British Army, with two frontline tours to Afghanistan - and his wife Duchess Meghan, 40 have spoken out amid the Taliban resurgence in the country.

They said in a statement: "The world is exceptionally fragile right now. As we all feel the many layers of pain due to the situation in Afghanistan, we are left speechless.

"As we all watch the growing humanitarian disaster in Haiti, and the threat of it worsening after last weekend's earthquake, we are left heartbroken.

"And as we all witness the continuing global health crisis, exacerbated by new variants and constant misinformation, we are left scared.

"When any person or community suffers, a piece of each of us does so with them, whether we realise it or not. And though we are not meant to live in a state of suffering, we, as a people, are being conditioned to accept it. It's easy to find ourselves feeling powerless, but we can put our values into action-together."

The pair encouraged people to support charitable efforts in the country and are urging "those in positions of global influence" to take action.

They said: "To start, we encourage you to join us in supporting a number of organisations doing critical work. We also urge those in positions of global influence to rapidly advance the humanitarian dialogues that are expected to take place this fall at multilateral gatherings such as the U.N. General Assembly and the G20 Leaders' Summit.

"As an international community, it is the decisions we make now-to alleviate suffering among those we know and those we may never meet-that will prove our humanity. THE DUKE & DUCHESS OF SUSSEX."

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