Starvation grips Afghanistan amid economic collapse

Afghanistan is on the brink of mass starvation after nearly four months since the Taliban seized power and now aid groups said that it has threatened to kill a million children this winter, reported The New York Times.

Afghanistan is on the brink of mass starvation after nearly four months since the Taliban seized power and now aid groups said that it has threatened to kill a million children this winter, reported The New York Times. Afghanistan which has suffered from malnutrition for decades is witnessing a worsening hunger crisis in recent months.

This winter, an estimated 22.8 million people -- more than half the population -- are expected to face potentially life-threatening levels of food insecurity, according to an analysis by the United Nations World Food Program and Food and Agriculture Organization. Of those, 8.7 million people are nearing famine -- the worst stage of a food crisis, said The New York Times. Emphasising the need to separate the politics from the humanitarian imperative, the World Food Program's country director for Afghanistan Mary-Ellen McGroarty said that the millions of women, children, men in the current crisis in Afghanistan, are innocent.

As the winter weather sets in, humanitarian organizations have warned that a million children could die. The crisis is potentially damning to both the new Taliban government and to the United States, which is facing mounting pressure to ease the economic restrictions that are worsening the crisis, reported The New York Times. People in Afghanistan have gone months without steady or any incomes whether labourers, doctors, teachers or others.

Due to the rising prices of food and other basic goods, these needs are now beyond the reach of many families. The malnutrition wards of hospitals in Afghanistan are filled with emaciated children and anaemic mothers. This largescale hunger is a catastrophic indication of the financial crash which has crippled the country since the Taliban seized power. (ANI)

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