CNN
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At least 78 people have died in freezing conditions in Afghanistan over the past nine days, Taliban officials said on Thursday. A humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people currently under the control of Islamic extremist groups.
In addition to the loss of life, Shafiullah Rahimi, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Disaster Management, told CNN that more than 77,000 livestock had recently frozen to death.
Temperatures dropped to minus 28 degrees Celsius (minus 18 degrees Fahrenheit) over the weekend and could get even colder. Temperatures are well below average for this time of year, according to CNN meteorologists, with the coldest conditions on record in the north.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Afghanistan said in a tweet Wednesday The loss of livestock poses additional risks to families of more than 21 million people in dire need of food and agricultural assistance.
The Taliban takeover in August 2021 plunged Afghanistan into an economic and humanitarian crisis.
Humanitarian partners provide families with heating, fuel and winter clothing, but the Taliban’s ban on women aid workers has severely affected the distribution of aid. said in a tweet.
At least six major foreign aid groups have temporarily suspended their operations in Afghanistan since December, when the Taliban ordered all local and international non-governmental organizations to suspend female employees from working.
Several senior UN women officials met with Taliban leaders in Kabul after they had to suspend some of their “emergency” programs in Afghanistan due to the absence of female aid workers. , discussing a ban on female aid workers.
Women’s rights, liberties and access to education are severely eroded under the Taliban, It recently banned women’s access to education.
Half of Afghanistan’s population faces severe hunger, and although the conflict has subsided, violence, fear and deprivation remain, a United Nations report in November found.
